KeithHall Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) I meant to type in Mergers, sorry for the TYPO! Through the years we have seen many mergers. Did they help or hurt drum corps? Crossmen seems to have been the most successful, however they have moved from PA to Delaware to Texas. In NY the most successful merger was Avant Garde but they have been gone for many years. Other NY corps tried in vain to stay alive....Northmen, Fusion, and Renegades. Also add the Frontiersmen and Southern Tier Express to that as well. Add your thoughts and comments. Edited February 16, 2009 by KeithHall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I meant to type in Mergers, sorry for the TYPO! I used my magic FSM powers and fixed it for you! Through the years we have seen many mergers. Did they help or hurt drum corps?Crossmen seems to have been the most successful, however they have moved from PA to Delaware to Texas. In NY the most successful merger was Avant Garde but they have been gone for many years. Other NY corps tried in vain to stay alive....Northmen, Fusion, and Renegades. Also add the Frontiersmen and Southern Tier Express to that as well. I think that in most cases, mergers only staved off the inevitable for a couple of years. I taught the Wayne Monarchs in 1976, a GSC corps that by that time was going downhill pretty quickly. We merged with the Greenwood Lake Lakers to form the King's Regiment for 1977. The Lakers were even worse than us...I think I saw a score on corpsreps for them of something like a 19. We were pretty good in 77, but by 1979 or 80 the corps was gone. The Livingston Imperial Guardsmen, who I marched with in 68/69 and taught in 76, merged with the Old Bridge Dukes to form the DIGs...didn't really help much. The Royal Brigade was a short-lived merger of the Meadowlarks and CW Townsmen, I think...had a nice short burst and faded fast. St Rita's Brassmen had a decent run. The were a merger too (was it St Joe's Patrons and the OLC Ramblers?). But they too faded away pretty quickly in the early 70's. Fantasia III was a merger of the Valley Grenadiers and I-forget-who...had a short run. Not a true merger, but when the Little Falls Cadets folded their guard moved en masse to Garfield to form the first girl guard in the Cadets for the 1969 season. Wasn't the origin of Pioneer from the merger that formed The Thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kansasDC Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Long Island Kingsmen absorbed the remains of the Medford Grenadiers before the 1970 season. This "merger" helped quite a bit, not only with increased membership, but with some people who stayed around quite a while and became valuable staff members. Interestingly, the Grenadiers came back to life quite a few years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted February 16, 2009 Author Share Posted February 16, 2009 Pioneer was a merger between.....St. Patrick Imperials and the Thunderbolts, so I guess that they have been more successful because they are still around and still from Wisconsin I used my magic FSM powers and fixed it for you! I think that in most cases, mergers only staved off the inevitable for a couple of years. I taught the Wayne Monarchs in 1976, a GSC corps that by that time was going downhill pretty quickly. We merged with the Greenwood Lake Lakers to form the King's Regiment for 1977. The Lakers were even worse than us...I think I saw a score on corpsreps for them of something like a 19. We were pretty good in 77, but by 1979 or 80 the corps was gone. The Livingston Imperial Guardsmen, who I marched with in 68/69 and taught in 76, merged with the Old Bridge Dukes to form the DIGs...didn't really help much. The Royal Brigade was a short-lived merger of the Meadowlarks and CW Townsmen, I think...had a nice short burst and faded fast. St Rita's Brassmen had a decent run. The were a merger too (was it St Joe's Patrons and the OLC Ramblers?). But they too faded away pretty quickly in the early 70's. Fantasia III was a merger of the Valley Grenadiers and I-forget-who...had a short run. Not a true merger, but when the Little Falls Cadets folded their guard moved en masse to Garfield to form the first girl guard in the Cadets for the 1969 season. Wasn't the origin of Pioneer from the merger that formed The Thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I think that in most cases, mergers only staved off the inevitable for a couple of years. That was often true. But that's a couple of years better than the alternative.... The Livingston Imperial Guardsmen, who I marched with in 68/69 and taught in 76, merged with the Old Bridge Dukes to form the DIGs...didn't really help much. Well, that one was strictly a one-year deal, and the Dukes did not return afterward. The Royal Brigade was a short-lived merger of the Meadowlarks and CW Townsmen, I think...had a nice short burst and faded fast. Four solid years, of which the latter two were ranked in the DCI top 25. St Rita's Brassmen had a decent run. The were a merger too (was it St Joe's Patrons and the OLC Ramblers?). But they too faded away pretty quickly in the early 70's. No, the Ramblers joined forces with the Ridgemen. St. Rita's Brassmen were simply the former St. Joseph Patron corps relocated to a different parish in 1969. The only merger involving the Brassmen was in 1973, when a busload of members and staff from the Milford Shoreliners joined forces with the Brassmen. Fantasia III was a merger of the Valley Grenadiers and I-forget-who...had a short run. From what I read in the drum corps press, Fantasia III was the product of the Dynamics, Royalaires and Imperial Knights. Dynamics and Royalaires had joined forces in 1978, and then merged with Imperial Knights one year later. Never heard of Valley Grenadiers being involved with that effort, but the reporters could have gotten it wrong.... Wasn't the origin of Pioneer from the merger that formed The Thing? Yes....Thunderbolts and Imperials of St. Patrick, merged in June of 1973 after both corps had competed in their respective season openers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bananaboyz Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 The Royal Brigade good horn line for sure. They had a bunch of old BS Sac guys running the corps. Same core of kids stayed and talent was plucked by the Bridgemen, Cadets and 27th Lancers over time. Money woes halted them from going to Denver in 78 which would have had them in the top 25 and maybe helped them leap into Finals in 79. They had moments. Recall them beating the Garfield Cadets just about every week in 79. They took the field during a shocking wind tunnel in Ala and were bunched up in prelims. Thought they should have been 14th, if not for the field conditions who knows ... They beat 27, Boston, and Cavs in the US Open. When they played the two ring circus thingy in 78 it gave Hoffman the idea for Thunder and Blazes in 80 and 81. Kids really could play. I used my magic FSM powers and fixed it for you! I think that in most cases, mergers only staved off the inevitable for a couple of years. I taught the Wayne Monarchs in 1976, a GSC corps that by that time was going downhill pretty quickly. We merged with the Greenwood Lake Lakers to form the King's Regiment for 1977. The Lakers were even worse than us...I think I saw a score on corpsreps for them of something like a 19. We were pretty good in 77, but by 1979 or 80 the corps was gone. The Livingston Imperial Guardsmen, who I marched with in 68/69 and taught in 76, merged with the Old Bridge Dukes to form the DIGs...didn't really help much. The Royal Brigade was a short-lived merger of the Meadowlarks and CW Townsmen, I think...had a nice short burst and faded fast. St Rita's Brassmen had a decent run. The were a merger too (was it St Joe's Patrons and the OLC Ramblers?). But they too faded away pretty quickly in the early 70's. Fantasia III was a merger of the Valley Grenadiers and I-forget-who...had a short run. Not a true merger, but when the Little Falls Cadets folded their guard moved en masse to Garfield to form the first girl guard in the Cadets for the 1969 season. Wasn't the origin of Pioneer from the merger that formed The Thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tired and old in pa Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 In the spring of 1977 the Belvederes from Pa had lost 1/4 of our membership due to age-outs from 1976 season. Then in May to gain members we had merged with a corps with members not as experienced as our selves. So we doubled in membership, but we put together a show that was a disaster. Putting a show together in less than two months verses six months was a disaster. 1978 most of the members gained from the merger had not returned for the 1978 season. The members that stayed were the ones that wanted to perform, with the attitude quality not quantity. In my perspective Jr. corps by 1977 were trying to do the merger thing as a way to increase membership. Seeing corps like Seneca Optimists and the Oakland Crusaders, and the Crossmen,Drum Corp managements were thinking if those corps were successful, we could do this merger thing too. Corps for the most part were starting to lose membership from large influx of the early babyboom age outs of mid 70's. Tired and Old in PA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Nevermann Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) Pioneer was a merger between.....St. Patrick Imperials and the Thunderbolts Yes: St Patrick Imperials from Milwaukee WI and the Thunderbolts from Cedarburg WI: the Cedarwaukee Imperial St. Thunder Pats... or so I heard them called at one point. That merger was indeed called "The Thing" for its first season. Edited February 17, 2009 by Jim Nevermann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dckid80 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 North Star was a merger and did pretty well for themselves. Alliance was a merger and almost made the top 12. In MA in the short term they helped a bit. Long term not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 That was often true. But that's a couple of years better than the alternative.... No doubt on that, but it wasn't the panacea those who were involved thought it would be at the time. Well, that one was strictly a one-year deal, and the Dukes did not return afterward. Yup. Four solid years, of which the latter two were ranked in the DCI top 25. Yes, as I said, a short run. They had a very nice horn line, from what I recall. No, the Ramblers joined forces with the Ridgemen. St. Rita's Brassmen were simply the former St. Joseph Patron corps relocated to a different parish in 1969. The only merger involving the Brassmen was in 1973, when a busload of members and staff from the Milford Shoreliners joined forces with the Brassmen. Ah, thanks. From what I read in the drum corps press, Fantasia III was the product of the Dynamics, Royalaires and Imperial Knights. Dynamics and Royalaires had joined forces in 1978, and then merged with Imperial Knights one year later. Never heard of Valley Grenadiers being involved with that effort, but the reporters could have gotten it wrong.... You may be right. It's just an old memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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