
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993                   TAG: 9308240165
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAT BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM DRUMMERS IN COMPETE IN TELEVISED EVENT

Among the faces marching across television screens tonight will be those of two Salem youths, but viewers may have a hard time spotting them. The Salemites will be part of a drum and bugle corps competing in an international championship that WBRA (Channel 15) plans to broadcast at 10 p.m.

Watch for Kurt Akers, a recent graduate of Salem High School, and Alan Joanis, a student at Virginia Western and a Salem High alumnus. They will be performing with the Cadets of Bergen County, the New Jersey drum and Bugle Corps they toured with this summer.

The live show will be the final two hours of Drum Corps International's World Championship in Jackson, Miss.

Two of the groups judged best at this year's Summer Music Games in Salem will be part of the competition. Unless they are eliminated before 10 p.m., viewers can watch for The Crossmen of Bensalem, Pa., who won top honors at the Salem show, and the Bluecoats of Canton, Ohio, who scored within a point of the top group.

Akers and Joanis have devoted most of this summer to practice and competition, according to Mary Loritsch, publicity chairman for Salem band boosters. They even made trips to New Jersey during the school year in order to keep in step.

Those who miss the show can still find out the name of the winning corps by dialing 1-900 CAN DRUM.

by CNB