Margaret “Patsy” Bonfiglio

The Matriarch of the 27^th Lancers

Personal Reflections from: Terry Keenan, Bob Cotter & Jim Macri as published in Masters of the Marching Arts Magazine, Vol. XII No. 4 Summer 2008 issue. For information on how to buy a subscription please go here http://www.mastersmarchingarts.com/subscribe.shtml. Special thanks to Rick Connor. 

      In the early morning hours of May 30^th, we all lost another legend of our activity.  Patsy Bonfiglio was not only loved and cherished by her immediate 27^th Lancer “family”, but also by anyone who had ever been graced to meet the lady.  She was warm and charming, as well as being very funny and a joy to be around.  Around the drum corps, she quickly became everyone’s 2^nd Mom and we were each treated by her as an adopted child.

      By definition, the word matriarch carries recognition as being the maternal head of a family or community, to whom the family turns for advice and help; and as a woman who holds a position of dominance, authority and respect.  Patsy was not simply the director’s wife.  She was our Rose Kennedy, our Barbara Bush, a lady whose maternal instincts molded the character and image of the 27^th Lancers.  Patsy was the awe and mystique behind the uniform.  She was our First Lady!

      Year after year, she would welcome new members into her home, learn as much as she could about them and determine how much maturing would be required in order for each kid to fit into the organization.  Everyone was welcomed and given an opportunity to become part of that family.  If you measured up to Patsy’s standards, chances are that you would be assured a spot the following summer.  Regardless of talent degrees, it was the character levels of aspiring members that typically comprised the corps roster, largely based on Patsy’s endorsement.  Blessed with a total recall memory, Patsy had a story about every “kid” that ever joined the corps.  She even had memories of many members who never made it through an entire winter. 

      One such story was after a young lady came to Revere from Indiana in an attempt to become a member of the Lancer color guard.  She was a hyper-active little girl who had never before traveled outside of her small Mid-Western hometown.  She stated to Patsy that the only person that she knew who had ever been to Boston was her student-teaching gym coach, and that she was very fond of him.  Patsy became very concerned about any college student befriending such a young high school girl, like any mother would.  Patsy learned that the friend was a basketball player and would be in town the following week.  Patsy’s maternal instincts intensified as she raised her concern, and wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything inappropriate going on with this star-struck little girl.  After interrogating the girl long enough, Patsy became very relieved to find that her fears weren’t necessary as the young lady considered him simply as an older brother figure. Unfortunately, Roseanne never made it through the winter of 79 for whatever reasons.  Her student-teacher, Larry Bird, went on to an NBA Hall-of-Fame career.  This story stands out most as an example of Patsy’s maternal instincts and the over-reacting that came with it. 

      As the Corps Mother, it was a custom for the Lancers to stop rehearsal early every 2^nd Sunday of May to present her with (27) red roses for Mother’s Day.  On the other hand like a lot of mothers, Patsy had both a wrath and a scorn you didn’t want to experience; yet she had one of the wildest senses of humor anyone could imagine.  If you were in the drum corps and around her long enough, you learned to experience both!

      If your tenure in the corps was a long one, some of us actually received special treatment as one of Patsy’s “spoiled children”.  It was her “gift” to only a few of us after years of winning her love and respect.  In one example, after being caught red-handed loading cases of “cold ones” into the back door of the “04” in Virginia Beach, she nervously exclaimed to me; “Terry, Terry, - hurry up, hurry up!  George is coming!” 

      Every time you saw her, she’d offer a quick greeting by calling you by your First name and show her big, beautiful smile.  She always knew everyone’s name.  If she was upset with you, usually for doing something stupid, she would summon you by both your First and Last name and stare at you like an upset middle-school teacher.  If she became really angry with you, she would make a statement very loudly and then repeat herself. 

These were “Patsy-isms”; an internal code to us all.  Who could ever forget the infamous “Sermon on the Mount” in 1975, where George lectured and berated us all on the way home from a long tour to California?  On a hill adjacent to the Kansas State University stadium, he was badgering us all for acting like a pack of juveniles when Patsy suddenly shouted; “George, George – Bias is laughing! Bias is laughing!” 

      Like any protective mother, Patsy always watched out for her “kids”.  She protected the organization with just as much zeal.  On the eve of one of our June “Lancer Invitational” shows, Patsy received a call from a rival Eastern corps and was told that they were simply pulling out of the show the next night.  Furious, yet in a subtle way, Patsy simply mailed (150) complimentary tickets to that corps director a week later.  No one ever dared to cross the Matriarch; not members, not staff, and not even George!  On many occasions, George would get angry at someone or something and begin to shout.  Patsy would respond to him by laughing!  George would get louder and Patsy would simply laugh even louder; so loud that George would eventually break down and start laughing at himself.  Other times, the roles would reverse! 

      While traveling the dry flatlands of Iowa during Janine’s rookie year, Patsy looked out the window and yelled; “Janine, look at the pigs!”  (Janine was fourteen at the time)  Just as we all looked out of the right side of Bus 314, and as if on cue, a few of the pigs began “making bacon”, if you will.  Everyone busted out laughing!  Everyone, that is, except Patsy!  She just screamed at the top of her lungs; “Janine, STOP looking at the pigs!”  No one laughed louder than George, and as Patsy started beating him with a rolled up magazine, George laughed even louder!

       A stay-at-home Mom by most people’s standards, no one put in more hard work for the organization than Patsy.  In the corps’ formative years, Patsy did it all!  Finances, flag silks, uniforms, and she coordinated housing sites while on the road.  As the tours expanded, she may have relinquished some of those duties to her daughter Darlene and Patty Poole, but the uniforms remained her domain.  Nothing would compromise “the look” without Patsy’s approval.  As one of her crowning achievements in uniform production; Patsy, along with Mae Zingali and Lucy Patti among a few others, re-created nearly (65) hand-stitched kilts and over (2) dozen customized English Royal Guard jackets for our Alumni Corps year in 1994.  The Golden Girls (as named by George) worked tirelessly for months to produce a fully-uniformed drum corps of (286) marching members.

      It was Patsy’s rule that the front door to 35 South Cambridge Street was never locked, just in case one of “us” kids might be dropping by.  In the closing credits of our 35^th Anniversary video entitled “2-7”, she can be heard stating; “…the door was never locked, it’s still open!”  Patsy Bonfiglio, the Matriarch of the 27^th Lancers, opened her home and her heart to all of us.  Her love for her “kids” and extended family stayed with her, long after our competing days as a drum corps were over.  It is still with us today.  Her lasting expression of her love and maternal aspects to all of us were even displayed at her funeral services.  In a photo album entitled “Christmas Memories”, Patsy had collected every picture that any Alumni member had ever sent of their own children to her and George over the holidays and over the years.  She is now at rest with her daughter, Darlene; both after long battles with terrible illnesses.

      On behalf of the thousands of adopted “kids” from around your drum corps world, we all say; God Bless you, “MA”!  You will be forever loved and missed by us all.