 In 1963 Wilbert Tilman, the group's founding sousaphonist and Casimir's cousin, took control of the group, but retired later that year due to poor health; Andrew Morgan took over until his death in 1972.Following this Herman Sherman became the group's leader until his death in 1984.During Sherman's tenure, they appeared at the 1976 Smithsonian Folklife Festival to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States in Washington D. C. and again in 1985 when the Festival featured a program on Louisiana.