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PHILADELPHIA - Joseph Kaminski is broken up. He couldn't keep Trilby on the street, and the oldest name in Mummery is on the brink. The Original Trilby String Band, a troupe that has strummed and strutted annually on New Year's Day since 1898, will not march in this year's Mummers Parade because of a shortage of cash and members.
"I don't even have words, said Kaminski, 48, who as club captain told members this month he was pulling the plug. There was no chance of mounting a show with unfinished music, no costumes, too few musicians, and but a few props.
"It was the worst decision of my life, Kaminski said.
Trilby may be down on its luck, but the Bridesburg club is no outlier in Mummersland. The same pressures kicking Trilby to the curb are behind a much-shortened parade route this year that eliminates a two-mile stretch through South Philadelphia, where the working-class parade was born.
Declining membership and soaring costs are building stress within...