up4479 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 From what I remember in the Boston area, CYO, Eastern Mass and probably Mayflower all started their seasons on Memorial Day weekend but no shows on Memoial Day itself so units could suck up as much parade money as they could. The show in New London, CT would run either Saturday or Sunday night in the 70's and attract some of the more powerful corps from the North East. In the 60's the show was run later in the season as it was more recently. The big hurtle was always the weather. Not so much at the shows and parades as the weeks leading up to that weekend. Many a night were spent freezing and wet behind Northgate Shopping Plaza by the I.C. Reveries and 27th Lancers. No matter how much of the drill you put together indoors during the winter you needed to get outside in order to practice on a full size field. The amazing thing was we were always ready for that first weekend! After all, these first shows usually set the tone for the season and counted in CYO for the seasonal championship. I remember other corps taking penalties for being under time as their shows were not yet complete. Everyone was rough! The crowds loved it though. It was great to be outside after our long winters. A bit of personal history. The I. C. Reveries Jr. corps continued on after the Sr. corps was disbanded and formed the 27th Lancers. We were a championship corps in Class C (Eastern Mass and CYO) in 1968, continued our dominance in Class B in 1969 and 1970 and were forced to progress to Class A (Open class, or Division 1 or any other name for the big corps) for 1971. The first show of the season was a CYO show at White Stadium at Franklin Park in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. We won that show, our first Class A show! (We still have the trophy!) While we were a small corps we managed to show we were ready for the season and set the stage for very heated local competition in the years to come. The more established Class A corps learned a lesson and were always more prepared in following years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Steve, where was the Lancaster show held? (Like I know anything about Lancaster )For the Senior side, "the" show was Mt Carmel, PA (exhibition) up in the coal region. Middle of freakin' nowhere and here's this football stadium with a HUGE concert side set of stands cut into a hill. Saw that one year then the show was moved to Danville, PA in 1976 or 1977. Danville had maybe 15-20 rows of bleachers and the people on the bottom row sat with their feet on the ground. Sat there one year and only thrill was being eyeball level with the bells of the horns on the field. Big let down from Mt Carmel..... PS - Good turnout with the drumline at Hanover and G-burg today if you didn't already know. If I heard right, Bob Z recruited one or two former White Roses. Hi, Jim, I see you survived the parades! Yeah, two guys that I played with (both tenors in that line) have joined and really enjoy playing again after sooooo many years. The Lancaster show was at McCaskey High Stadium; good place for a show and always well attended. I remember those Mt. Carmel shows, too. See you at the USAF D&BC reunion in a few weeks? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 The junior season generally opened before Memorial Day back in the early 1970s. Here's a sample of the season openers:May 23, 1970 Bridgeport, CT Blue Rock 71.95 27th Lancers 69.75 Boston Crusaders 67.6 Garfield 66.75 Blessed Sacrament 66.55 Muchachos 59.05 Cardinals 58.35 OLPH Ridgemen 57.2 Knickerbockers 53.05 My first show with Garfield! What an awesome feeling linging up for that first show and singing the Holy Name song for the first time prior to a performance! May 22, 1971 Bridgeport, CTBlue Rock 72.05 27th Lancers 71.45 Garfield 71.35 Boston Crusaders 70 Blessed Sacrament 69.6 Pembroke Imperials 51.35 L.I. Kingsmen 48.15 I think this show was called the Preview of Junior Champions. I have the 1970 show recording on vinyl from back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 (edited) Hi, Jim,I see you survived the parades! Yeah, two guys that I played with (both tenors in that line) have joined and really enjoy playing again after sooooo many years. The Lancaster show was at McCaskey High Stadium; good place for a show and always well attended. I remember those Mt. Carmel shows, too. See you at the USAF D&BC reunion in a few weeks? Steve No *sigh* I REALLY mugged up my vacation plans this year. Leave on the day of the USAF reunion and come back on the Gettysburg concert the following Saturday. Not only do I miss both but this is the second time I missed on the reunion and these would be the only times my wife could watch me play in 2009. Think McCaskey is the only stadium I have been in at Lancaster. Think that's who my HS (Central Dauphin) played when I was in the band. Edited May 26, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 The junior season generally opened before Memorial Day back in the early 1970s. Here's a sample of the season openers:May 23, 1970 Bridgeport, CT Blue Rock 71.95 27th Lancers 69.75 Boston Crusaders 67.6 Garfield 66.75 Blessed Sacrament 66.55 Muchachos 59.05 Cardinals 58.35 OLPH Ridgemen 57.2 Knickerbockers 53.05 May 22, 1971 Hamtramack, MI Royal Lancers 51.3 Vanguard-MI 48.3 Praesidium 46.1 Eaglettes 45.8 Saginaires 24.8 May 22, 1971 Bridgeport, CT Blue Rock 72.05 27th Lancers 71.45 Garfield 71.35 Boston Crusaders 70 Blessed Sacrament 69.6 Pembroke Imperials 51.35 L.I. Kingsmen 48.15 May 20, 1972 Macomb, IL Black Knights 69.2 Chevaliers 59.5 Colt .45 57 Nee Hi's 49.1 Northernaires 42.2 Chargers 33.4 May 19, 1973 Macomb, IL Black Knights 69.15 Chevaliers 59.25 Windjammers 50.2 Marion Cadets 49.25 Rebels 41.2 Nee Hi's 34.6 "Season Openers" Thanks for posting all those old scores. Brings back a few memories. I also "Remember When" the "Season" started at Memorial Day (Or earlier) and ran through October. The early 1960's had East Coast junior and senior "Openers" at places like Midland Park NJ, Hamden CT and of course the old "Preview of Champions" 'Junior-Senior' show hosted by St Patricks Cadets at Roosevelt Stadium. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Hi Brian, do you have scores from St. Clair Shores and (I think) Riverview, Michigan 1975 and 1976? Also how about the May Canton, OH shows (1976)? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I have record of some outdoor shows in Illinois in the month of April. That's the earliest Midwestern activity I've run across. I'm not near my home computer files right now, so I don't have the particulars, but I'll post them when I'm able to dig them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay B Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Yup....at Lakefront Stadium in Kenosha, sponsored by the Kenosha Kingsmen senior corps. Always the first midwest show in the 60s/early 70s, and a big one, too---Cavies, Vanguard, Kilties, etc.---and always colder than **** ("Lakefront" meant exactly that....cold winds off Lake Michigan!). No kidding that show was always cold as &^%^$#. I could have made a fortune selling fiberglass mouth pieces. Though, it was a good opportunity to get a first look at the top corps from Wisconsin and Illinois. I posted these photos in the old pictures thread, all from the 66 parade/show. Kilties then Des Plaines in parade, and the last one is of the great 66 Cavie show. Lake Mich is just over the horizon. I thought it was funny that none of the Racine corps were at the 66 show. Someone at the show told me that there was an issue between the Mariners and the Badgerland Association. Something about the Mariners recruiting members from other corps. Don't know if true though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kansasDC Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 The junior season generally opened before Memorial Day back in the early 1970s. Here's a sample of the season openers:May 22, 1971 Bridgeport, CT Blue Rock 72.05 27th Lancers 71.45 Garfield 71.35 Boston Crusaders 70 Blessed Sacrament 69.6 Pembroke Imperials 51.35 L.I. Kingsmen 48.15 I still remember that show. That was the year that I had moved up to bass 1 after six years on cymbals. We knew going into that show that we would be slaughtered, so we were pretty happy to be only a few points behind Pembroke. All of the members we had gotten from the Medford Grenadiers in 1970 helped make us a "big corps". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I have record of some outdoor shows in Illinois in the month of April. That's the earliest Midwestern activity I've run across. Here's the April one I was thinking of: April 30, 1960--Cairo, IL Here's another REALLY early one: May 5, 1962 New York, NY Garfield 85.083 St. Lucy's 85.063 St. Catherine's 85.05 Our Lady/Loretto 83.716 Selden 81.883 Blue Rock 76.536 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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