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WELLSVILLE – At the upcoming Wellsville All-Class Reunion, a long-active member of the community and an internationally-known musical duo will take their places amongst the many Legends of Wellsville.
Smaller than usual but still as mighty, the Legends of Wellsville’s class of 2015 will honor Dom and Tony Sgro, better known as the Sgro Brothers, as well as Steve Creatore on July 2 during the opening ceremonies of the reunion. This will be the sixth group to receive the honor.
This year’s trio of legends have been known for their accomplishments whether in Creatore’s case has been through his tireless participation throughout the village, or in the Sgros’ cases, on an international level as professional harmonica players.
Dom and Tony Sgro, graduates of the Class of 1950 and 1952 respectively, first took up the harmonica at an early age and enjoyed the sounds from them. After honing their talents for years, and after graduating from Wellsville, the Sgros enlisted in the Marine Air reserve, and later joined the U.S. Marine Corp when Dom received his draft notice during the Korean War.
The brothers remained together as they became members of the Marine band, and also hosted a 52-week radio show sponsored by the Marines. The brothers’ talents were also recognized on several nationally-known game shows and variety shows hosted by Herb Shriner, Arthur Godfrey, and perhaps the most famous of all, Ed Sullivan.
“The government kept us together,” Dom said. “We did five CBS television shows dressed with our blues on. If you look on our website (sgrobrothers.com), you’ll see us on the biggest quiz show on Saturday night with Herb Shriner in 1954.”
“The thing that always fascinated me is that we’re Wellsville boys, small town of Wellsville,” Tony said. “Here we wind up on The Ed Sullivan Show and a couple months before we were on, another kid from Wellsville was on The Ed Sullivan Show. Both of us from this small town on the most popular show of its time, maybe in history, I don’t know. Here we wind up on The Ed Sullivan Show. It’s amazing when you think about it. I think it’s amazing.”
That other kid from Wellsville was Clarence “Bevo” Francis, a basketball standout from Rio Grande College who previously held the record for most points scored in a single NCAA basketball game with 113 points until it was shattered three years ago. Francis passed away earlier this month.
Following their discharge in 1955, the brothers went to New York City to record an album for RCA Victor, and then joined Johnny Puleo’s Harmonica Gang where they opened for some of the biggest names in entertainment like Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and Steubenville-born Dean Martin, and even made it to London where they enjoyed an audience with Queen Elizabeth. The Sgros also made commercials for the soft drink, Dr. Pepper.
“We did the first Dr. Pepper commercial with Johnny and the Rascals when they went national,” Dom said. “In 1957, this was on billboards across America. We saw Johnny in Trapeze and all those movies. We did that on the first commercial. We played our records on Friday night, and Dick Van Dyke was our announcer.”
The brothers eventually said goodbye to Puleo and settled with their families in Elmira, N.Y. where they currently reside, but they were far from done from performing. Over the years, they would continue to tour across the country including performances at the Grand Ole Opry, the Lincoln Center and the Lou Holtz Upper Valley Hall of Fame, where they were inducted in 2006.
Perhaps their favorite performance, however, was at the White House where they entertained President George W. Bush and members of Congress in 2004.
“We played along with the President’s band, the Marine’s band,” Tony said. “You see people on the news and everything. I’ll never forget we were playing on the White House lawn, and who never left all the time was Bob Dole’s wife, Elizabeth Dole. She was just sitting there smiling, wanting to hear the music and I thought that was impressed.”
Joining the Sgros at the induction will be Creatore, a 1966 Wellsville graduate who is happy to be honored alongside the Sgros.
“Just to be mentioned with them is fantastic,” Creatore said.
Like the Sgros, Creatore also entered the military after high school as he enlisted in the Navy. However, Creatore’s duties occurred during the Vietnam War.
“When I got home from Vietnam, people looked down,” Creatore said. “Not so much on the people but the country as a whole.”
After serving in the Navy, Creatore returned home and became involved in anything that had to do with Wellsville. For 30 years, Creatore was the public address announcer for the Wellsville football and basketball games, and also served on the school board.
“About 30 years as a P.A. announcer in basketball and football games and emceeing a lot of events, and being on the school board for 16 years,” Creatore said. “One of my favorite thrills is when they built the new school.”
In recent years, though, Creatore has battled health problems including a stroke, which has limited his mobility and speech. Despite this, he remains in very good spirits.
“I’m happy to be alive,” Creatore said. “People say that I’m lucky, but I’m not lucky. I’m blessed.”
First held in 2007, a total of 39 local legends so far have been honored in this hall of fame for their various works and contributions to the community. The event returned last year after a four-year hiatus. Last year it was held during the Italian Festival.
Legends committee chairman Eric Shepherd said this was his way of showing gratitude for those who have made those contributions.
“Most of these people are older now, and when I was growing up in Wellsville, these were the people that were making things happen,” Shepherd said. “It was just kind of a way to thank them.”
The induction ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. at the main stage near the gazebo, followed by a dinner for the honorees at the Sons of Italy.