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The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Skyliners drum corps is the continuation of a corps that originated 50 years ago in New York, moved to New Jersey and is now located in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area.
The new version of the corps may have only finished its second season, but today’s Skyliners carry on a 70-year legacy that has seen the organization win championships, change locations and eventually return from inactivity.
Larry Carbonell was a member of the Skyliners from 2000 to 2001 and he’s now two years removed from bringing back to life the corps that went dormant in 2006.
“I have daughters and when they became older, I began to build drum corps,” Carbonell said. “I started building a junior corps in 1999 where I was living at the time in northern New Jersey. It wasn’t successful, but then I got a phone call to go help start one in southern New York and that corps is thriving. I took this one over in 2013.”
Carbonell has spent a lifetime in the corps. His father introduced him to the drums when he was 7 and by 8 he was a member of a corps near his northern Connecticut home. He continued pursuing music throughout high school and during his time with the U.S. Air Force and began playing with a corps again as an adult. Now he builds corps to provide others with the opportunity to grow through music.
“It was a great challenge to bring it back but we’re getting people the experience of drum corps like I had it and like I remember it all my life,” Carbonell said. “It’s open to anyone and there are no auditions. There’s placement, which means we need to understand the level of a player or performer and we put them where we think they’re going to succeed. Then we can help them get to the level they want to be at.”
Skyliners members range in age from 14 to 65 and, while the corps features a number of local musicians and performers, some members travel from other states to take part in the organization. Michelle Ripple, 23, is a member of the Skyliners drumline and drives from her home in Ypsilanti, Michigan to participate in corps events.
“This is actually the closest drum corps to me, so I have to drive eight hours,” Ripple said. “I really love drum corps. I like the sense of family. I felt welcome when I first came here. Everyone looks out for each other.”
In addition to the people, Ripple enjoys her trips to Northeastern Pennsylvania for another reason: the scenery. She said she enjoys visiting the mountainous landscape that the Skyliners now call home because she gets to experience a variety of natural formations she hasn’t seen in her native Michigan.
Carbonell’s decision to base the Skyliners in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area instead of its native New York/New Jersey area was rooted in another of the area’s strengths: its population and location.
“When I started the corps back up, we looked on a map,” Carbonell said. “My wife and I are two of the directors and we live in Walnutport, Pennsylvania. There’s another couple from Middletown, New York that’s involved. We chose a location that’s not only an hour from both of us, but is home to a quarter of a million people in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazelton area. We thought, let’s see if we can build a drum corps there.”
The Skyliners practice in Plymouth once a week during the season and take part in local parades, events and competitions as a way to introduce themselves to the public and become a part of the community. When it’s time for competition, they compete in events sanctioned by Drum Corps Associates, including the DCA National Championships where they surpassed their highest score from last year by two points this past Labor Day weekend. It wasn’t high enough to get the Skyliners to the finals, but Carbonell is optimistic about the young corps’ next season.
“Even though that performance wasn’t in the top 10 to make finals, it gave a lot of people excitement about next year,” Carbonell said. “We made a statement with our performance and all the comments and support we’ve received says the community can’t wait to see what we do next.”
Carbonell and the Skyliners plan to hold an open house in November for prospective new members. The corps, which Carbonell describes as one of the oldest, most decorated drum corps in the history of the activity, may have only been revived a few short years ago, but they’re aiming to score high enough on judges’ sheets next year to add another chapter to that legacy.
