On the Town: Police marching band gathers for reunion

It all started back in 1953, when the first members of the Burbank Police Boys Band would gather in a building on the grounds of McCambridge Park for their Monday evening rehearsals, and then, once a month, muster in a local parking lot to practice marching.

From those early beginnings, on to their final days in the 1970s, the marching musicians — who affectionately adopted the 1960s counterculture slang term for police officers and called themselves the “Fuzz Band” — would don their black uniforms and yellow ties to play in concert, at parades and even do recording sessions.

Originally established as an all-boys band, the 1970s saw the inclusion of girls, who served as majorettes and members of the color guard.

Today, Rich Dean, who joined the band in 1959, which led to the meeting and marrying of his wife, Edna, is the longest-tenured alumni of the military-style marching band that was sponsored by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

That distinction made him one of the honored guests as former band members gathered for their fifth bi-annual reunion this past Friday.

Convening at Tony’s Bella Vista restaurant, the event, coordinated and chaired by Joanne Lento Miller, also honored the presence of Gerri White, whose late husband, Morgan, assisted the band’s founder, Ben Porter, in establishing the organization and served as its first director, and Bill Kuzma, who went from being a clarinet player to serving as the band’s director, the band director at Burbank High School and the principal at John Muir Middle School.

The band, which participated in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade and Burbank on Parade, boasted the participation of many siblings, resulted in at least seven marriages and counts the Burbank-born filmmaker Tim Burton among its former members.

Along with their parade appearances, they would also stage spring concerts that were recorded by Location Recording Service in the late 1960s and released as albums.

The band members would also enjoy summer get-a-ways at Bellows Lodge at Big Bear Lake, where they would work on their musical technique and perfect five of their best-known pieces — their signature song, “South Rampart Street Parade,” “Strike Up The Band/I Love A Parade,” “Horns A-Plenty,” “High Society” and “The Soaring Eagle.”

Friday’s reunion, which saw members come from as far as Arizona, Texas, Idaho and Seattle, Wash., was enjoyed by Barry Kaufman, Blennie Tuggle Danielson, Bob Cox, Bob Gaston, Bruce Hogue, Cherie Fryman Armstorff, Richard and Cheryl McMillan, Chris Berg, Colleen Hallagan Okida, Dan Turk, Dave Boido, Debbie Chew Atherton, Deborah Myers Brum, Deborah Goldstein Todd, Fred Liberman, Jeanne Malo Minniear, Jim and Sue Pritchett, John Schmidt, Joyce Rudolph, Kathleen Gaston Hitt, Keith Stone, Kevin Fisher, Larry Vangor, Lila Jordan Webb, Michael James, Michael Jochum, Mireya Santos, Ray Firkins, Rhonda St. Romain, Rick Williams and Rick Williams Sr., Rob Rudolph, Ruth Grossnickle, Scott Chew, Scott Wilkinson, Sharie Dunn Telles, Sharon Kuzma Stockman, Tom Huber and Val Eyster Bostwick.

While the band may have disbanded many years ago, many members have maintained their playing and marching chops and still perform with the Burbank-Burroughs Alumni Band in Burbank On Parade and at the annual Montrose Christmas Parade.

To prove that they still have what it takes, the conclusion of Friday’s reunion dinner saw instruments removed from their cases and members join together (some for the first time in over two decades) for a rousing rendition of “South Rampart Street Parade.”

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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.