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07/19/2017 08:30 AMBig cities always are champions of big, right? Not always. To be sure, New York has the biggest department store in the United States (Macy’s) and Atlanta has the busiest airport (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport), but Deep River, population in the most recent census 4,629, has the world’s largest muster.
And Jeff Chapman, who plays with the Deep River Drum Corps, also heads the Deep River Ancient Muster (DRAM) committee. The biggest DRAM of all time, Jeff says was the bicentennial celebration in 1976, when some 125 corps participated. This year Jeff, who is also a member of the Deep River Drum Corps, which participates in the muster, says some 55 units had registered and typically as many as six more show up without having registered in advance.
Fife and drum corps not only from throughout the United States but also from foreign countries attend the event, always held at Devitt Field, Southworth Street, Deep River on the third weekend in July. This year, a corps from Switzerland attended the muster, held on July 14 and 15.
The muster has been a part of summer in Deep River for more than 60 years, and nothing stands in the way of the performances of the assembled fifers and drummers.
“Rain or shine,” Jeff says.
He recalls the year of what he calls “wrath of God weather,” a downfall so severe that a state trooper patrolling the event was sure organizers would call a halt to the proceedings.
“We just laughed and continued to play. We were putting on an event and people were still here,” Jeff says.
Jeff has been a part of the fife and drum world since he was four years old. His mother and father also played in the Deep River Drum Corps. His father created a small uniform for Jeff, who started marching with the group carrying a toy musket. Now his 14-year old daughter Hannah Paige Petrus-Chapman marches as part of the color guard.
Membership in fife and drum corps is a family tradition for many. Bill Sady, who is the field manager in charge of the set-up at Devitt Field for the Deep River Muster, plays in the Ancient Mariners of Guilford as do his two sons, now 28 and 31. Both have been playing since they were 10.
It’s not simply that generations of the same family play. In the fife and drum world, according to Jeff, everyone is related.
“We laugh together; we cry together; we look out for each other; we’re all family,” he say says.
Jeff suggests that anyone wanting to join a local fife and drum corps check with the office of their town’s first selectman, which usually knows about local groups.
The New England area, he points out, is the heart of the fife and drum world. Potential members do not need to know how to play the instruments. All groups have instructors to teach not only the basics, but also the fine points of playing.
Jeff, who is now employed by Eb Exterminating in Moodus, has a critical job during muster weekend. He runs the beer tent, and DRAM makes much of the money used for the next year’s muster on beer sales—but Jeff emphasizes that does not mean unmonitored drinking. Patrons buy tokens and get wristlets to indicate they are of age to buy alcohol.
Jeff has taken an online course on how to run and regulate an alcohol concession. He has a secret: a couple of kegs of non-alcoholic beer. When he sees someone whose demeanor indicates he has already had more than enough to drink, he fills their glass with the non-alcoholic brew. If a patron discovers the substitution, Jeff has a standard answer.
“I tell them the reason I am doing this is so they can still be here and enjoy themselves. It usually works,” he says.
Jeff is careful to drink something else as the muster approaches: Gatorade. The Revolutionary and Civil War uniforms all the bands wear are often made of heavy wool, even though most of the marching is done in the heat of the summer. In addition, Jeff plays a bass drum slung in front of his body and increasing the warmth.
Dehydration is a constant problem in these circumstances. Once in a parade in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Jeff realized he was weaving on his feet as he marched.
“The next thing I knew I was on my keister,” he says.
Now he begins drinking extra fluids two days before a performance.
Jeff started playing as a snare drummer first in the Deep River Junior Ancients. Later his parents switched both him and his brother to a fife and drum corps in Wethersfield, but there was another switch to come. Jeff moved from snare to bass drum. There were individual contests on instruments and Jeff’s parents didn’t want their two sons competing on snare drum against each other.
One of Jeff’s favorite performance songs is “The Downfall of Paris.” It is a long number made up of several distinct tunes and drummers like to play it through twice.
“Your arms can feel like lead weights at the end,” he says.
Some fifers, he adds, are less enthusiastic about going through the demanding piece two times.
“The second time through just isn’t fun,” says Alicia Carlson, who plays the fife in the Deep River Drum Corps.
Still, not every fifer agrees. Bill Sady, also a fifer, claims “The Downfall of Paris” is his favorite tune.
On a recent morning, Jeff was at Devitt Field early, giving instructions to a flatbed truck driver on where to position the portable toilets. The field has areas for camping and concessions as well as an area for groups to perform. Jeff says that the weekend usually goes off with few problems. Sady can recall only one unusual situation. There is a sign that says “No Dogs” posted on a front gate. One year someone tried to ride a horse in.
“He said he didn’t see a sign that said ‘No Horses,’” Sady says.
Jeff credits the hard work of the entire organizing committee for making the weekend work smoothly.
“Really I want to recognize everybody. It’s not about one person. So many people are involved, setting up, helping out and cleaning up,” he says.
Clean up is Sunday morning, and has to be finished by noon. After that, Jeff has still one more muster tradition: a swim in Roger’s Lake in Old Lyme.
“It’s finally a chance to relax,” he says.
But then there’s the third weekend of July in 2018 to start thinking about.