Audubon bon bons

[luv4corps]

Okay so in addition to being a drum corps fanatic, I'm an avid golfer and after a round last week, I was sitting with a gal I had met fairly recently and we were just shooting the breeze over a beer when all of a sudden she proclaimed:  "and I marched drum and bugle corps!"

Of course she was expecting that I would have no freaking clue what that means.   Bwa ha ha ha ha.  

Do tell, I said.  I might kind of know about this activity.

Well turns out she marched baritone in the Audubon Bon Bons, an all girl drum corps back in the early 70s.  The most interesting thing she told me is that every note of music they learned was by rote and no one could read music.  She said the cream of the crop went to the battery first, then to brass, then flags.  This was back in the days of real bugles too.  

What a kick it was talking to her about her experiences.  

So anyone remember this corps???

Edited June 8, 2018 by luv4corps

[BRASSO]

1 hour ago, luv4corps said:

 

 Yes. They finished as high as 2nd place in the 1950's at one National Championships, winning the Percussion caption, topping all but one of the All Male Drum Corps that were so prevalent at that time.  Finished out of the National Title by a mere 2 tenths. They were a national Drum & Bugle Corps powerhouse in the 50's. In the mid 60's, they were nominated and chosen by a group to go into that group's Hall of Fame as one of the" Premier All female Drum Corps of All Time". But they respectfully declined. A bit later that Group extended another nomination, which they accepted, that chose them to go into the group's Hall of Fame as" One Of The Premier Drum & Bugle Corps Of All Time "... and WITHOUT  that " All Female " designation.

 They were chosen to represent the state of New Jersey in the 1960 Presidential Inauguration Parade in Wash. D.C. for newly elected President John F. Kennedy. The Audubon Bon Bons have an active alumni group, have periodic reunions, and and a current Facebook  Group. Thats a bit of info on them.

Edited June 8, 2018 by BRASSO

[MikeD]

I first saw the Bon Bons in 1963, at the very first show I attended as a 10-year-old. Saw them often thereafter through my marching career. Loved them!

Here is a link to some old film (thanks Roy Perez) that has been lovingly preserved online. The films were silent; Roy added music from the show. They were taken from the 1971 VFW Nationals prelims in Dallas.

 

The 1971 Bon bons.

  

[ironlips]

In their prime, the Bon Bons were a perennial Top 5 Drum Corps, at the national level. It's true that their drum section was exceptional, and Rita Macey (Bernert) (World Drum Corps Hall of Fame) won the National Individual Snare Drum Championship, defeating the best of the day, some of whom went on to write for and teach other national champions.

But their brass section was equally prodigious, and the arrangements, by Hall of Famer Rip Bernert (Rita's future husband), were among the most creative and skillfully constructed ever to appear on the field.

There have been other great "all-girl" corps as well, like the ND-Ettes, Les Eclipses, St. Ignatius, and earlier, the Bengal Guards of Orange, Texas, but Audubon was consistently the most dominant of them all on a National level.

Edited June 8, 2018 by ironlips

[IllianaLancerContra]

In 2004 their 'alumni vocal group' sang the National Anthem at the Hershey show

[KVG_DC]

Drumlines not knowing how to read music goes back a long way.  My dad marched an American Legion corps out of Plymouth Indiana in 1956.  It was one of the first years they let them dip into local high school talent apparently.  The director came for him because he could read sheet music and teach the other guys how to read it.  Although how much they actually read it and how much they just learned the parts and memorized them...who knows.

[Tim K]

2 hours ago, luv4corps said:

Okay so in addition to being a drum corps fanatic, I'm an avid golfer and after a round last week, I was sitting with a gal I had met fairly recently and we were just shooting the breeze over a beer when all of a sudden she proclaimed:  "and I marched drum and bugle corps!"

Of course she was expecting that I would have no freaking clue what that means.   Bwa ha ha ha ha.  

Do tell I say.  I might kind of know about this activity.

Well turns out she marched Audubon Bon Bons, an all girl drum corps back in the early 70s.  The most interesting thing she told me is that every note of music they learned was by rote and no one could read music.  She said the cream of the crock went to the battery first, then to brass, then flags.  This was back in the days of real bugles too.  

What a kick it was talking to her about her experiences.  

So anyone remember this corps???

The Bon Bons were a bit before my time but I knew of them through their reputation. However, I did know some corps taught marchers to play without teaching them how to read music. In Boston, many parishes had CYO bands which competed in the CYO and Eastern MA circuits.  Now if you think that drum corps folks get in a tizzy when a drum corps is called a “marching band” the band folks got more upset which I know first hand because I marched in one of the bands. Marching bands were what high schools did, which considering most of the bands were from parishes with schools also meant public schools, it was a put down. Well the drum corps would always let the bands know they were not drum corps, even though the drum corps actively recruited from the bands. The reason the corps wanted the kids from the bands—they could read music but many who marched in drum corps could not and as arrangements became more sophisticated, reading music was crucial. Many kids who marched with the bands known for their musical skills: St. Agnes, Arlington, St. William, Dorchester, St.Thomas, Jamaica Plain, St. Joe’s both Medway and Medford, and Sacred Heart in Roslindale to name a few marched with 27th, BAC, North Star, and Defenders. Some marched with Garfield, Bridgemen, and Madison. My guess is that when I marched (1974-81), most kids in drum corps could read music, but we were always told drum corps members could not read music so that when they acted superior, we would know we were really the superior ones.

[luv4corps]

1 hour ago, BRASSO said:

 Yes. They finished as high as 2nd place in the 1950's at one National Championships, winning the Percussion caption, topping all but one of the All Male Drum Corps that were so prevalent at that time.  Finished out of the National Title by a mere 2 tenths. They were a national Drum & Bugle Corps powerhouse in the 50's. In the mid 60's, they were nominated and chosen by a group to go into that group's Hall of Fame as one of the" Premier All female Drum Corps of All Time". But they respectfully declined. A bit later that Group extended another nomination, which they accepted, that chose them to go into the group's Hall of Fame as" One Of The Premier Drum & Bugle Corps Of All Time "... and WITHOUT  that " All Female " designation.

 They were chosen to represent the state of New Jersey in the 1960 Presidential Inauguration Parade in Wash. D.C. for newly elected President John F. Kennedy. The Audubon Bon Bons have an active alumni group, have periodic reunions, and and a current Facebook  Group. Thats a bit of info on them.

Great info.  Thanks.  I have seen that their alumni group is a choir.

[Fran Haring]

There were a lot of great all-girl corps, spanning several decades, but the Bon Bons arguably were the best ever. I agree with Frank.... overall an unmatched record of achievement on the national and regional levels.

Their alumni chorus is still going strong... led by their music director and World Drum Corps Hall of Fame member John "Duke" Terreri.  Duke stepped in after Rip Bernert passed away several years ago.  They've performed the last few years at the Maryland Drum and Bugle Corps Hall of Fame banquet, among other appearances.

[luv4corps]

57 minutes ago, KVG_DC said:

Drumlines not knowing how to read music goes back a long way.  My dad marched an American Legion corps out of Plymouth Indiana in 1956.  It was one of the first years they let them dip into local high school talent apparently.  The director came for him because he could read sheet music and teach the other guys how to read it.  Although how much they actually read it and how much they just learned the parts and memorized them...who knows.

When I asked my friend why they didn't learn to read music, her reply was 'there wasn't time!'  She went on to say that they had a show to field and every moment was valuable.