Staff

In Memoriam: Anthony Zappala

In my mind’s eye I can still picture him walking in front of me with his blue Blessed Sac windbreaker and his hat with a feather in it. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a song that comes to mind when I think of Mr. Zappala. During his tenure as the Director of Blessed Sacrament he always walked all of his guards out on the floor with his head held high. He was so proud of his organization. His girls (Mr. Z’s time was before we let men in the guard) were all SO very proud and honored to walk along side him in all his glory. He is missed terribly to this day. At the end of every single rehearsal; Mr. Z would make us all stand in a company front he’d yell out a “Guard HUT” and we’d all snap to attention. Mr. Z would then give us any updates for the next rehearsal or tell us who owed what for dues that month. He made us a team whether we liked it or not.

He rode on the bus for all of our road trips (no matter how long they were) and kept us “in line”. What most people don’t know is that when the staff said “No”; Mr Z usually said “Yes”. He let us get away with a lot because we worked hard and played equally as hard. He recognized that and gave us some leniency. Mr. Z. was like a kid himself most of the time. He would help us in any way he could if we needed something.

I remember visiting Zippy in the hospital very close to his passing. He was clearly in pain and exhausted and probably a little scared facing his own mortality; but you would never have known by his face when he saw us come in. He put on a huge smile and we walked over and held his hand. We didn’t know that was the last time we’d ever see him again. It was such a terrible day for all of us when he passed away. It was like our second father was gone. A huge part of Blessed Sacrament died with him.

His daughters Dolores and Ann Marie are left to keep his legacy alive.

– Katherine Gallagher


BLESSED SACRAMENT COLORGUARDS

DIRECTOR

Ed Devlin

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Dolores Zappala

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dolores Zappala, President

Ed Devlin

Ann Marie Zappala Valeri

Chris Raichle

Jack Shallow

Michael Hoffmann

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Ed Devlin

Kathy Kerrins

Peg Gallagher

Tammy Coulter


SAC WORLD STAFF

Jay Murphy

Chris Raichle

Kathy Aruda

Conor Kovatch

Rory Duffey

Larissa Ursprung

Kimmy Marshall

Evan Turner

Fred Marier

Jessica Byrne

Mary O’Brien

Amy Foley

Talitha van de Wijngaard

SAC OPEN STAFF

Lennie Machado

Chris Raichle

Ann Marie Zappala Valeri

Mark McGuire

Bruno Zuccala

Julie McKinnon

Kristen Webber

Alicia Druid

Dylan Nauss

Jessica Lyons

Vanessa Savy

Ryan Bronner


SUPPORT STAFF

Kathy Higgins

Ellie Bogardus

Rick Woodall

Patty Fung

Leo Ryan

Liz Ryan

Danny Falcione

Ann Marie Sirois

Maureen Thistle

Michelle Graham