The Aqua String Band is an all-volunteer string band, best known for its participation in Philadelphia's annual Mummers Parade. [1]
The band was founded in 1920, and participated in its first Mummers Parade on New Year's Day in 1921. [2] [3]
By 1949, this ensemble was the largest string band to make an appearance in Philadelphia's Mummers' Day Parade. [4]
The band was organized on April 2, 1920, by Elmer W. Leyrer and Fred J. Kesel Sr., and was incorporated into the String Band Association in 1945. Kesel introduced the glockenspiel to string bands, which has now become a signature and defining sound. [5] The name, "Aqua", poked fun at the Volstead Act which banned alcohol under Prohibition. [6]
In addition to Philadelphia area parades, private events and concerts, the group participated in the city of Hazleton's 1949 Mummers' Day Parade [7] , the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Holyoke, Massachusetts, [8] the 2012 Little League World Series' Grand Slam Parade, [9] and the 2011 Hatboro Holiday Parade.
In 1987, the group was attempting to purchase Germania Mannerchor clubhouse for their home base. [10]
The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is a unit of the United States National Park Service. Established in 1964 through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it pays tribute to the thousands of victims of the Johnstown Flood, who were injured or killed on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam ruptured.
The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia, and is the oldest continuous folk parade in the United States of America. Local clubs compete in one of five categories. They prepare elaborate costumes, performance routines, and movable scenery, which take months to complete. This is done in clubhouses – many of which are on or near 2nd Street in the Pennsport neighborhood of the city's South Philadelphia section – which also serve as social gathering places for members.
The Bacon Brothers is an American music duo consisting of brothers Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon. Although they have played music together since they were boys, the brothers have only been a working band since 1994. Having heard the brother's music, a childhood friend approached them about doing a one night only gig in their hometown of Philadelphia at the Theatre of Living Arts under the moniker The Bacon Brothers. Since then, the band has gone on to release seven studio albums, appear on numerous radio, television, and web programs, and on many tours throughout North America and Europe. The brother's first studio release in 1997 was entitled Forosoco, derived from what the brothers describe their genre to be as a mix of folk, rock, soul, and country.
The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps is an all-age drum and bugle corps based in Reading, Pennsylvania. This ensemble is a charter member of Drum Corps Associates.
The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visual, literary and performing arts.
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University. It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach to funding open access books.
The 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual Thanksgiving Day parade held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is presently sponsored and aired by ABC owned-and-operated television station WPVI-TV, through a co-sponsorship agreement with restaurant chain Dunkin'. It is currently the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, having been held through the Great Depression & World War II, and was created by Gimbels department store in 1920. The Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade was held until the department store closed operations in 1986.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is a municipal authority providing Public housing services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
David Max Baer was an American judge who served as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from the time of his election in 2003 until his death in 2022. He was elevated to the court's most senior position, chief justice, in 2021.
Greater Kensington is a string band in Philadelphia's annual Mummers Parade.
Pennsport is a string band in Philadelphia's annual Mummers Parade. They are one of two new groups added to the parade in 2008.
The 2000 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 7, 2000 during a year which coincided with a United States presidential election in which Pennsylvania was viewed as a swing state.Pennsylvania was one of four states that elected Republican Senators despite being won by Al Gore in the concurrent presidential election, the others being Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort is a resort in the village of Shawnee on Delaware, located in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The hotel is a Spanish colonial revival building with white-Moorish architecture and Spanish tiled roofs. Mike Jesky of the Standard-Speaker wrote, “The three-story, 96-room inn looms large and flat on the grounds, with a stately yet inviting appearance.” In the 1990s the Shawnee Inn was identified as the only resort on the banks of the Delaware River. Tee Time magazine has ranked the golf course there as one of the finest in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Anita Palermo Kelly was a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Philadelphia County. She became known for her advocacy work on behalf of people with disabilities and health concerns, as well as senior citizens.
Pocono Manor Historic District is a national historic district located in Pocono Township and Tobyhanna Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It encompasses 75 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, 4 contributing structures, and 4 contributing objects on the historic resort of Pocono Manor.
Eliza Butler Kirkbride School is a K-8 school located in the Passyunk Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.
Arthur Ingersoll Meigs (1882–1956) was an American architect.
The Joseph A. Ferko String Band or Ferko String Band is a perennial performer in Philadelphia's Mummers Parade. They gained national popularity through their hit recordings in the 1940s and 1950s.
Christine L. Donohue is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Prior to her election to that court in 2015, she was an elected member of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, a seat she had held since 2008. She had also performed nearly three decades of service as a trial lawyer and litigator in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers. Historically, mummers' plays consisted of informal groups of costumed community members that visited from house to house on various holidays. Today the term refers especially to a play in which a number of characters are called on stage, two of whom engage in a combat, the loser being revived by a doctor character. This play is sometimes found associated with a sword dance though both also exist in Britain independently.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
