WILLIAMSBURG (AP) -- By tradition, members of the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums get drummed out of the corps at age 18, the summer after they graduate from high school.

That doesn't necessarily mean their days playing "Yankee Doodle" and "The World Turned Upside Down" are over.

In fact, some veterans of the group never give up the rattle of the snare and the fife's shrill song.

This weekend, about 250 alumni members will gather in Williamsburg to mark the 50th anniversary of the Fifes and Drums, an organization that's come to represent Colonial Williamsburg across the nation and around the globe.

Many of those veterans will pick up their old instruments and play.

"This is very special to me, because I was the corps' first fifer," said 65-year-old Williamsburg resident John Evans Harbour. In 1958, at age 15, the James Blair High School student became one of the corps' original four members. He's never forgotten the allure of 18th-century military music. "The Fifes and Drums are sort of like the Pied Piper," he said. "When people hear them, they naturally move in any direction the music is coming from."

A few months back, digging through a closet in his Kingsmill home, Harbour discovered photos his father shot of the original corps. Harbour believes the occasion was July 4, 1958, and that the picture depicts the group's first-ever public performance.

"When I first saw it, I said, 'My God, that's us!' "

Organizers expect all four original members to attend the weekend's reunion. They'll be joined by as much as a third of the total alumni from the corps' 50-year history. Together, fifers and drummers old and new will march on the historic streets of Williamsburg.

"No other group from Colonial Williamsburg has this kind of loyalty or cohesion -- nobody," said William H. Casterline Jr. "It's really amazing."

A 1969 graduate of the Fifes and Drums, Casterline compiled the group's new official history, "From the Road to Boston to the World Turned Upside Down."

Since Harbour's first pioneering days with the group, the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums have become a nationally recognized institution, one with its own traditions, rules, heroes and folklore.

In some cases, a stint in the corps is a gift bestowed from one generation to the next. Parents put their offspring on a waiting list for the corps at age 5 -- years before they're eligible to join the ranks.

Ken Johnston joined in 1967 as a 9-year-old fifer. Now, at age 51, he serves as president of the Fifes and Drums alumni association.

"I remember the thrill of wearing a uniform, performing in front of people," Johnston said. "I was shy, so performing with a group was more desirable than trying to perform on my own ... Being in that corps really brings you out of your shell. I'm not the introvert that I was back then."

Johnston's own son eventually joined the corps and rose through the ranks to sergeant major, the highest level a young musician can attain.

"Being a proud father is fun," Johnston said. "And he's expecting his own son in August, so we're hoping to have a third generation in the corps."

Still, watching from the sidelines wasn't enough for Johnston. Ten years ago, he started a private fife and drum band for alumni who hadn't worked martial music out of their bloodstreams. The Williamsburg Field Musick Fifes and Drums play corporate gigs and special events in Virginia and beyond.

"I started it thinking we would perform a couple of times a month," Johnston said. "We're now doing over 300 performances a year. I've got a lot of college kids who use it as summer employment."

Starting in 1993, the alumni organization has hosted reunions every five years. At Christmas, an alumni corps marches in the Williamsburg Christmas parade, although they don't try to squeeze into their old uniforms.

"It's street clothes," Johnston said. "We've had sweat shirts made. And people wear all sorts of things, Santa hats, tricorn hats. As one of the alumni, you can be an individual."

Lance Pedigo, current drum major for the Fifes and Drums, agreed that the blend of marching music and friendship creates a bond that's hard to break.

"It's the social aspect and the camaraderie," said Pedigo, who graduated from the Fifes and Drums in 1981, then returned as an employee 10 years later. "At a younger age, you're just taking everything in, you're absorbing everything. You're with some friends and there's friendly competition, but the main thing is that it's the corps member's choice to be here. You've made this decision; you've made it yours, with other like people. You've chosen to stick with it. It becomes fraternal in nature just because of that."

And by fraternal, he doesn't mean all male. The corps began admitting girls in 1999, a shift that Pedigo says sparked some positive changes.

"I must admit things have mellowed a lot since the '70s," he said. "Behavior has mellowed."

On Saturday, when the alumni and the current corps members march in a parade down Duke of Gloucester Street, spectators will see the largest-ever gathering of Colonial Williamsburg fifers and drummers. Organizers expect well over 350 musicians.

As drum major, Pedigo will lead that historic parade. What emotions will he feel?

"I'm going to say pride," Pedigo said. "Pride at how far we've come. And I'll just be proud to be marching alongside those same guys again."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)