1962 - 1963

Top Row, Left to Right: Mike Patterson, Gary Klein, Don Belles, Charles Huff, Tom Callis, Warren Thielz, Dave Fang, Chris Patterson, Dan Hope, Roy Schaffer, Mark Wilson, Dick Kubow, Bob Dryden, Jack Tischinger.

Third Row, Left to Right: Phil Reed, Walkter Brudzinski, Jan Snyder, Allen Lord, Wayne Rodgers, Ed Wendt, Doug Zier, Wayne Cannon, Bob Roebuck, Mike Alderman, Bob Walker, George Kramer (director).

Second Row, Left to Right: Bill Williams, John Keller, John Lewis, Roger Mann, Andy Holtan, Chip Alexander, Bill Riley, Alan Christy, Mike Ling

Bottom Row, Left to Right: Dixie Glen, Peggy Petersen, Sally Etchison, Wendy Pauli, Ruth Hoglund, Marion Griffin, Kris Johnson, Barbara Miller, Sue Enger, Jean Nichols, Carole Sarratt.

coaches

Officer Body

1962-63

  • President: Phil Reed   

  • Vice President: Bob Walker

  • Secretary: Carole Sarratt

  • Treasurer: Bob Dryden

  • Historian: Alan Christy

1961-62

  • President: Bill Riley   

  • Vice President: Phil Reed

  • Secretary: Jean Nichols

  • Treasurer: Bob Walker

  • Historian: Gary Klein

Award Recipients

  • Best Female Trouper: Jean Nichols

  • Best Male Trouper: Bob Walker

  • Best Act: “Galaxy of Movement”Men's Triples Balancing - Bill Riley, Bob Walker, and George Kramer

Gyrations in Space

“Mr. Kramer warned new members the first day of practice, "If you do not plan to work, this is not the club for you -- there will be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun along with it!" 

Diamondback    10/11/62 

Work they did, and they had a lot of fun as well.  The Gymkana Troupe that year sported one of the largest memberships up until that time approximately fifty people.  

During their road show season, the troupers were able to take along a new piece of equipment - a portable ring and high bar combination rig.  Now they no longer had to depend on whether or not the facility they were visiting had men's apparatus in order to perform their routines. 

The road show season took the Troupe throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, as well as a trip to Oakcrest High School in Mays Landing near Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the troupers put on three shows in one day.  

Space exploration was all the rage at that time.   The Mercury space program, America’s first manned venture into space was just about completed.  The Gymkana Troupe reflected the country’s excitement about space exploration in their Home Show with the theme "Gyrations in Space".  The show, reportedly performed before as many as 6000 people, featured everything from Vaulting as "Intersecting Comets", to the men of rings as “Saturn Ringmen”,  to Balance Beam as "Walk on the Milky Way".   

As one of the last acts of the show, Bill Riley, Bob Walker, and George Kramer, as “Galaxy of Movement”, outdid their Best Act Award winning Men's triples routine from the previous year by performing skills, including a triple high with a handstand (see the picture on the next page), on top of a 20 foot high platform.  This move has not been repeated by members of Gymkana since 1963.

itinerary

  • Franklin Senior High

  • White Oak Junior High

  • Corkran Junior High

  • Boonsboro High

  • Oakcrest Senior High

  • Edmondson Senior High

  • Overlea Senior High

  • Robert E. Peary Senior High

  • York Junior College

  • Frostburg State Teachers College

  • Sligo Creek Junior High

  • James Madison High