It was big news in the fall of 1984. A new drum corps was starting in Bloomington, Indiana. Word was it was sponsored by “some millionaire guy and his company.” Truth be told, the “guy” had a willing accomplice, who could have vetoed the whole idea. Instead, she dove right in.
Gayle Cook passed away this month at the age of 91. She was the yin to husband Bill’s yang. Together they were a force of nature, one balancing the other. Bill was the “ready, fire, aim” entrepreneur. Gayle was the detail-oriented, quality control person. Together they laid the foundation for Star of Indiana, an eventual DCI champion and forerunner of the Broadway stage show “Blast!”
They brought in a stellar teaching staff for their new corps. “I was there on day one and met the Cooks,” says percussion instructor Dennis DeLucia. “They both impressed me with their warmth, their caring for and devotion to the corps and their ‘easy to talk to’ personalities. I loved, respected and admired Gayle … She was a wonderful person.”
I met Bill Cook in a park in Madison, Wisconsin as we did a “walk and talk” interview about the corps for the PBS broadcast of the DCI Championship in the mid 1980s. A friendship quickly formed and a short time later I met Gayle. She was quiet and reserved when compared to Bill (who wouldn’t be?), but when she spoke you would do well to listen.
She enjoyed being around the drum corps and people naturally gravitated to her says Becky Mungle, one of Star’s early drum majors. “Gayle could always be found in the food truck checking on the volunteers or sitting on a curb, checking in with a corps member. She was deeply invested in the membership and staff.”
When Bill drove a corps bus, Gayle was often in the front seat keeping an eye on the driver and the kids. Other times she trailed the corps in a “chase car” to be used for food runs and other tasks on tour.
“Gayle could be found behind the wheel of the ‘grey ghost,’ Bill and Gayle’s personal car that followed the buses in the Star of Indiana 11 vehicle caravan” Mungle said. “Thousands of miles were driven over the nine years of the drum corps and Gayle drove many of them herself.”
I could tell you many personal stories about Gayle Cook’s kindness and benevolence outside of drum corps. She was a major proponent of historic preservation. Gayle and Bill renovated and saved the National Historic Landmark West Baden Springs Hotel and created French Lick Resort in the process. Star played at the grand reopening.
A few years later I became a Cook Group employee, creating an audio/video division within the resort’s marketing department. In a full circle moment, I arranged for Star United, the small group alumni corps, to come back and play at the resort on a 4th of July weekend. I picked up a horn and played the beautiful “Amber Waves” with them in that magnificent West Baden atrium with Gayle looking on. What an honor it was. We both had misty eyes. I’m pretty sure we were not alone.
