Oldbuc Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 In '65 there were DCA & non-DCA shows. I played with Reilly in '65 & we never competed with DCA corps. It was Cabs, Reilly, Rochester, Brewers, Sunrisers & a few others at the shows. At 18 years of age I really didn't care about the politics. I just wanted to play my horn & have a good time. (Oh, and I did!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTux Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 First Renegades rehearsal I met Donna and, well, as they say.... the rest is history! (in about 4 weeks we'll be married 44 years! ) Musta been sumptin in the water back then ... Sharon and I will hit 43 yrs in Oct ... we met in HS and marched together in the Bpt PAL ... cruise is booked already ... @ 45 we'll hit the beaches of Hawaii again! :-) Early CONGRATS to youse guys too!! Early congrats T. and many more. THANKS my friend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 The last few historical posts are - for the most part - accurate, but considering who we are on here... that's no surprise... after all - we lived it... To clarify, the first meeting to form DCA was in the fall of 1963 in Scranton. In 1964, several shows were given DCA Sanction, but I don't think it was many. There were more in 65 and of course the first championship was held that year in CT with Bucs winning. The schism between corps which was basically between Lefty Meyer and Jim Costello became obvious... After the '65 Championship, Doc Sebastianelli arranged for - believe it or not - the American Legion to moderate a meeting which decided the direction of DCA for the next 50 years. From that meeting came the agreement which brought Caballeros to select DCA shows in '66 and brought both Caballeros and Brigadiers to the '66 championship in Bridgeport. Part of the master plan was to find a "neutral" person to run DCA who would not show favoritism to either NY or Cabs. The only person both Cos and Lefty could agree on was Vince Bruni. He was elected President for the 67 season and many years thereafter. Ironically, even though he was a major part of all the compromises, mostly because of the late September date, Vince did not bring Crusaders to Bridgeport in '66... However they would join Cabs in a full DCA schedule in '67. When all this happened, I was bouncing from Crusaders to Brigadiers, so my first championship was '66 with Brigs. I returned to Crusaders for the '72 season. It remains one of the ironic historical oddities of drum corps that the Association pretty much formed to take control of the activity away from the American Legion (and to a lessor degree, The VFW) was literally saved from a beginning wrought in controversy and distrust by senior officials of the American Legion who negotiated a truce that allowed DCA to not only survive but grow and prosper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbuc Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Tom, Thanks for that information. Very logical, considering the personalities involved at the time. I was not familiar with any of it. I was in the service from '66 to '69 & pretty much removed from the activity. The wealth of information on this site just boggles the mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 The last few historical posts are - for the most part - accurate, but considering who we are on here... that's no surprise... after all - we lived it... To clarify, the first meeting to form DCA was in the fall of 1963 in Scranton. In 1964, several shows were given DCA Sanction, but I don't think it was many. There were more in 65 and of course the first championship was held that year in CT with Bucs winning. The schism between corps which was basically between Lefty Meyer and Jim Costello became obvious... After the '65 Championship, Doc Sebastianelli arranged for - believe it or not - the American Legion to moderate a meeting which decided the direction of DCA for the next 50 years. From that meeting came the agreement which brought Caballeros to select DCA shows in '66 and brought both Caballeros and Brigadiers to the '66 championship in Bridgeport. Part of the master plan was to find a "neutral" person to run DCA who would not show favoritism to either NY or Cabs. The only person both Cos and Lefty could agree on was Vince Bruni. He was elected President for the 67 season and many years thereafter. Ironically, even though he was a major part of all the compromises, mostly because of the late September date, Vince did not bring Crusaders to Bridgeport in '66... However they would join Cabs in a full DCA schedule in '67. When all this happened, I was bouncing from Crusaders to Brigadiers, so my first championship was '66 with Brigs. I returned to Crusaders for the '72 season. It remains one of the ironic historical oddities of drum corps that the Association pretty much formed to take control of the activity away from the American Legion (and to a lessor degree, The VFW) was literally saved from a beginning wrought in controversy and distrust by senior officials of the American Legion who negotiated a truce that allowed DCA to not only survive but grow and prosper. And, contrary to popular belief, Lefty and Cos were NOT the worst of enemies. They were, in fact, the best of friends and had lunch together once a week for many years. Hey, even friends have a difference of opinion every now and then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 >>>After the '65 Championship, Doc Sebastianelli arranged for - believe it or not - the American Legion to moderate a meeting which decided the direction of DCA for the next 50 years. From that meeting came the agreement which brought Caballeros to select DCA shows in '66 <<< and ... believe it or not, in the early stages of forming the DCA, Rev. Louis A. DeProfio of St. Raphael's in Bridgeport, offered to be a mediator between Hawthorne (Costello) and the Skyliners (Lefty) to see if their differences could be ironed out ... there was an article in DCN circa late 63/early 64 that outlined the effort ... I'll try to find it and post it (if able) ... Father Louie was good friends with Ray Samora and influential in bringing the WO to Bridgeport in 64 and 65 ... he was passionate about drum corps and was upset about the Lefty/Costello feud ... C'mon ... post some more history ... this stuff is fun! :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbuc Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 And this all transpired 6 or 7 years before DCI was even thought of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironlips Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) Political maneuvering in drum corps? Influence peddling? Bias in scoring? Shocking. Absolutely shocking. From the '50s through the mid '60s, it seemed three Jersey corps had a lock on virtually all the Legion and VFW championships. DCA was clearly an attempt to break the seniors out of that, and DCI followed suit a few years later in the puppy league. I had no idea that there were diplomatic moves to broker a cease-fire. Peashey knows where all the bodies are buried, evidently. Thanks for declassifying all of this. Edited June 13, 2015 by ironlips 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 >>>From the '50s through the mid '60s, it seemed three Jersey corps had a lock on virtually all the Legion and VFW championships. DCA was clearly an attempt to break the seniors out of that, and DCI followed suit a few years later in the puppy league.<<< Interesting view ... but, I think there were four ... on the Jr side was St. Vinnie's in the 50's and BS & Garfield in the 50's and 60's ... Chicago was the corps that broke the Jersey dominance, which was pretty much done after 1964 ... and, the Cabs on the AL Sr. side (I don't recall them ever competing in the VFW Nats, dominated by Prince, Skokie, Reilly and Archie ... then Reading) ... the Cabs AL run was ended by Rochester in 65 and the Hurcs in 67 and Baltimore in 69 ... in fact, after their win in 1966, Hawthorne was dethroned at the AL Nats until 1974 ... Good stuff ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Father Louis DeProfio": I did not personally know him (My great loss) and only got to actually see and meet him when Park City Pride was being formed (And with whom he had a VERY great deal of contact), but the man's reputation in Fairfield County drum corps was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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