GPM

Thanks! It might have been around 81 when the corp folded? I know, it's terrible that I don't remember. :( I think I was a freshman in High School. I'll try to find out for sure.

Anyone remember General Putnam's Men? We were a small drum & bugle corp from Ottawa Ohio. The corp started out as an all boy's corp but eventually added girls due to small numbers. I marched for 6-7 years and had the time of my life. We were never competitive with the top corps but worked hard and had a great time. The director/founder was Brice Musser, OD of Ottawa. Now when I look back I'm amazed at what he did with a very small budget. I don't think we realized at the time how much of his own money was spent on keeping the corp on the field. Thanks Brice! I posted a 6 minute video of our show on youtube. I hope everyone enjoys. General Putnam's Men was founded in the spring of 1975 by Dr. Brice Musser. The corps was established in Ottawa, Ohio, which is in Putnam county. The county and corp were named after Revolutionary War general, Israel Putnam. Gong with that theme and with the approach of the bicentennial, the corps uniforms were based on colonial costumes; knickers and vests with tri-corner hats. In the beginning the corps took boys with little or no training and completely taught them. The corps first year was spent as a parade unit. In 1976 they began competing in class A. In 1978 they added girls to the corps. The corps traveled and competed primarily in Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario. In 1979 the corps made class A finals at the U.S. Open, the highest achievement of the corps at the time. In 1980, the corps traveled to New York state to complete in Drum Corps East. In 1981 the corps made its only appearance at DCI finals week placing 12 in class A. In the spring of 1982, due to financial considerations, the director and staff made the difficult decision not to continue the corps. Shawn C. McDowell (11/30/2004) Contra, 79 Staff member, 80 and 81