Troopers Hall of Fame Class of 2020

The Troopers Alumni Association is proud to announce, the Trooper's Hall Of Fame Class for 2020. Five people will be inducted into the Trooper’s Hall Of Fame, at a ceremony this summer in Casper, Wyoming. The ceremony will be held at the Trooper’s Bingo Hall on July 25th at 1:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, prior to the ceremony. For those attending from out of town, there is a block of rooms available at the Ramkota Hotel here in Casper. The Troopers will have a premiere show of some kind, later that evening, before they head out on this summer's tour.

Congratulations to these five inductees into the Trooper’s Hall Of Fame class of 2020!

Pat Chagnon

Knute Holian

Rose, (Ma) Bailey

Lee Engle

Jack Meehan.

This is one of the highest honors a Trooper, can receive. If you plan to attend, please send an email to, lee.engle@hotmail.com by July 15th with who and how many plan to attend.

We will be dedicating the Trooper’s Flower Garden at Fort Caspar on July 23rd if you want to come to Casper early and attend this ceremony, and the Legacy picnic too.

HLD

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Kelly Smith

President, Troopers Alumni Association Committee

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Pat Chagnon

Pat first saw the Troopers in her hometown of Tewksbury, Massachusetts when she was a young girl and she knew she wanted to be a member. She marched 2 years in a Class A corps is Massachusetts before traveling to Casper for her age out season in 1987, playing mellophone. Since aging out of the Troopers, Pat has remained active on the drum corps and pageantry arts scene; she has taught drum corps, marching bands, winter guards and indoor percussion groups. She has been a member of the Drum Corps World’s photography staff and is often seen scouting the sidelines for the “perfect shot”. Pat also finds time to still perform, serving as the drum major for the Connecticut Hurricanes and playing mellophone with the North Star Alumni.

In 1996 she reached out to then director, Mat Krum and asked if she could volunteer her time and get the Troopers on the world wide web. The corps official website, www.troopersdrumcorps.org was born that year. Pat designed, developed, administered and nurtured the site until 2012. Pat marched in the 2001 Presidential Inauguration Parade with the Troopers. She then served the Alumni Association, helping draft and adopt its' first bylaws. She then served as the board secretary from 2002-2004. In 2007 she compiled and published the Troopers 50th Anniversary History Book.

From 2012-2017 she volunteered and contributed to sponsorships, meals, fuel and the Rocky Mountain Rivalry funds as often as she could. She has donated her time and talents in many ways including photography, meals and snacks donations, mail drops and more. In 2018 she stepped up to lead the Troopers Alumni Corps Project effort and, in the summer of 2019, the first Troopers Alumni Corps took the field to perform. Currently she is coordinating everything to do with building an alumni corps that will travel to and perform in Plymouth, Massachusetts in November of 2021 and has even bigger goals for 2022 and beyond.

Pat holds a degree in Computer Science and is the SIS Operations Manager at Southern New Hampshire University. She is also pursuing a Non-Profit Management degree at the same university, in her spare time. She makes her home in Westford, Massachusetts with her wife Piper, and their 2 cats.

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Knute Holian

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Mrs. Rose Bailey

Mrs. Rose Bailey, affectionately known as “Ma” Bailey, was a cornerstone of the Troopers in its early years of development. She began working with Mr. Jones in 1962, and traveled with the Corps from 1963 through 1972. During this time, she served as nurse, chaperone, cook, seamstress, mother, friend, and confidant. Her duties seemed endless. As Casey Smith, former Drum Major, phrased it: “Her daily list of duties included helping feed everyone, being a nurse to anyone who wasn’t feeling well, ironing our scarves (100 of them) so we always looked our best on the field, and counseling those who needed a friendly voice. She was always the first one off the floor in the morning. Yes, there were no volunteer vehicles or sleeping facilities. Rose rode the bus and slept in a sleeping bag like the rest of us and hers was usually the last head to hit the pillow at night.” Jim McIntyre, former Drum Major, also shared his thoughts: “Many a night I would stay up talking to her late into the night and then get up early with her and drive her to a store in the staff car so she could buy the items she needed to have breakfast ready when the kids got up to eat. I have such great memories of those times with her.”

Rose’s years of service to the Corps were at a point in time when there was an increasing concern about the need for medical personnel to help ensure the health and welfare of the members. Rose was an integral part of the decision-making process that determined how far the corps could be asked to “push the envelope” in terms of a daily schedule. In addition, as Rose was an LPN, her presence paved the way in providing a vital staffing component to the Corps (a position nowadays considered vital to the success of any competitive drum corps).

For all the “things” Rose did for the corps, probably the most precious aspect of her selflessness, was “how Mrs. Bailey made most of us feel.” To summarize former member Gary Shockey’s thoughts: “Mrs. Bailey made us feel safe, confident in tough times, nourished, but most of all loved. She was a nurturing person above all else, and hundreds of corps members benefitted.”

While Rose was working and traveling with the corps she raised three children, who were also in the Troopers. Bill, a drummer, marched from 1960-1967, Carolyn, a brass musician, marched from 1963-1966, and Marilyn, a color guard rifle, marched from 1964 to 1968/69. In addition, her husband Bob contributed to the Trooper legacy by providing the musical recording on the first Trooper LP album. He also recorded many of the Homecoming ceremonies which took place in Casper following the Corps’ “Nationals” tour in August.

Rose “Ma” Bailey passed away in 2003. Let us not forget her for the beautiful person she was, and for her steadfast dedication and commitment to the Troopers and its legacy by welcoming her, posthumously, into the Troopers Hall of Fame.

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Lee Engle

Lee was one of the first snare drummers in the Troopers. He joined the Troopers in the fall of 1957, and marched in the first parade in Riverton, WY in 1958. He started performing as Drum Major in 1961. Lee was not in the corps for a few years, but returned to be drum instructor in 1964. In 1967 Lee moved to Seattle to go to work for the Boeing Aircraft Company, and there he worked with the Seattle Shamrocks for about a year, and helped form the Black Watch corps out of Federal Way, Washington.

Lee met a young gal in the Troopers Color Guard in 1959. Her name was Dee Francescato. They were married in August of 1964, and took their honeymoon with the Troopers to New York City for that tour. This was the first inner corps marriage from the Troopers. Lee and Dee had three children, Christina, Tom, and Julie. Christina was the first all Trooper baby born. Dee passed away in June of 1993 from breast cancer at the age of 46. The family is now three children, five grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

Lee was not actively involved in drum corps again until he joined the Troopers Alumni Association Committee in 2017. Although he was not directly involved, the drum corps inside never left, and he was always watching, and following the activity. He moved back to Casper in 2018 to be close to and volunteer with the Troopers. He has been very active with the Troopers Alumni, chaired the 60 year Trooper reunion, and is currently a member of the Troopers Board of Directors. He continues to volunteer, and do what ever he can to help and support the Troopers.

Thank you Troopers, and Jim Jones for showing, and teaching me how to live life through music and this great Trooper family.

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Jack Meehan

Jack Meehan's life long passion for music began at the age of 8, when he first heard the unforgettable sounds of a drum and bugle corps parading through the Bronx. He joined his first drum corps, the Kingsmen, at age 10 and in 1962 he joined the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps under the instruction of the great Truman Crawford. These experiences and mentorships gave Jack the groundwork to build on as he went from brass performer to teaching drum corps brass ensembles on his own, sharing his expertise, passion and knowledge. The first brass ensembles to experience Jack's passion were the hornlines of the Casper Troopers (1967 through 1973) and the Santa Clara Vanguard (1968 through 1970). There he furthered his love for knowledge and expertise by working under two trailblazers in the history of drum corps, Jim Jones and Gail Royer.

Jack married a Casper Trooper, Edie Booth, in1969 and their first born son John, was born in 1970 followed by the birth of son Timothy in 1974. In 1973, Jack graduated from the University of Wyoming with a teaching degree and soon began teaching music in Bergenfield, New Jersey where another mentor, Don Angelica resided. Over the years Jack instructed many other notable horn lines, including The Muchachoes, Bridgemen, 27th Lancers, Crossmen, and Velvet Knights. In 1978 the Meehan's moved their growing family (John 8 and Tim 3 and a half) to Concord California where Jack would spend the next eleven years teaching, tuning and perfecting the Blue Devil's hornline, including the creation of the infamous Space Music, that has since become an all-time favorite at drum corps show warm ups.

Jack was inducted into the Drum Corps International (DCI) Hall of Fame in 1991. Today Jack and Edie live in Martinez, California, with sons John and Tim, wives Jackie and Melanie, and six beautiful grandchildren living nearby. Jack's CMT business of Neuromuscular Rehabilitation keeps him busy as he works to heal musicians and people in all walks of life. When he has time, Jack enjoys writing his thoughts, dreams, poems, and philosophies on life and self improvement down on paper. Jack still has a passion for drum corps and enjoys experiencing each new show the Blue Devils produce. Son John, the Blue Devil brass caption head of ten years always gives Jack something to look forward to each season.