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What has happened to the U.S. Open, in Marion, OH


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Same here,John. We usually came in next to or dead last,in prelims.

Fun show to see though!

AND, that show was the only time we kids got to see the "big guns".

G'day there, Mr. Bear!!

one of the most memorable 'face peels' from way back then came courtesy of Madison's "Slaughter" at Marion - right after they audibly sucked all the air out of the stadium in prep for that awesome first note.

as I type this my toes still instinctively curl and press down into the floor, digging in in preparation for that chest smacking wave of sound.

I miss that.....

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I think we can throw in A-I Open and World Open into this too. I did WO in the 80's as a staff member but I am sure it was much bigger and maybe better in the 1970's.

A-I Open was also great. I think we stayed at some elementary school in the boonies. I'd remember the name if I saw it. But Marion was special...breakfast at Marion cadet Hall, Bob's Big Boy drive in, the community was great. We even stayed upstairs at a firehall in the downtown area.

It's not just the US Open. Think about all the other "championships" that have disappeared since DCI came into being. World Open, Mid-America, American International, North American Open, American Legion and VFW Nationals.

DCI eliminated all the "competition" in a few short years. US Open actually held out longer than most.

Personally, I didn't see these shows as a threat to DCI's dominance. Evidently, they did.

Garry in Vegas

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I think we can throw in A-I Open and World Open into this too. I did WO in the 80's as a staff member but I am sure it was much bigger and maybe better in the 1970's.

A-I Open was also great. I think we stayed at some elementary school in the boonies. I'd remember the name if I saw it. But Marion was special...breakfast at Marion cadet Hall, Bob's Big Boy drive in, the community was great. We even stayed upstairs at a firehall in the downtown area.

I remember us staying in an old abandoned gym that was loaded with bugs, dead and living. But the show itself, was awesome. It's a shame these regional or independent champtionships no longer exist. They helped to give meaning to the DCI season for smaller corps; increased community awareness of and participation in the activity, and were just plain fun.

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Did St. Joe's have a show in late August or early September? Because I know that Mark Twain filled in for Blue Rock. Boston was there but I don't remember Garfield being there. Hmmmm

Yes, there was another Batavia show on August 1, 1971. BAC, 27th and Kilties were among the contestants. Sorry that I don't have any of the results of the contest, though.

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That's right Kilties were there!!! memory was just jogged.

Yes, there was another Batavia show on August 1, 1971. BAC, 27th and Kilties were among the contestants. Sorry that I don't have any of the results of the contest, though.
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My first exposure to national championship drum corps came at the 1971 U.S. Open. My brother lived just 2 blocks away from Harding Stadium. WOW!! What a great thing that was! And what a way to get introduced to drum corps.....watched class 'A' prelims for 8 hours during the day and 3 hours that night, and watched open class prelims for 8 hours the next day and 4 hours that night. I was immediately hooked. I came back the next couple years.

The article mentions 40 corps. Well, in the U.S. Opens I attended there were 61 different corps in '71, 64 corps in '72 and 84 different corps in '73!

The city of Marion was all for drum corps in those days. And they loved their Marion Cadets.

I agree - Marion; the city, the people, the contest (we called them that, then) was truly a magnificent moment of the summer. The scores from the finals?

1 Blue Rock 84.600

2 Madison Scouts 83.150

3 DeLaSalle Oaklands 82.150

4 Cavaliers 81.550

5 Des Plaines Vanguard 77.750

6 St. Rita's Brassmen 77.450

7 St. Joseph's of Batavia 75.950

8 Bridgemen 73.200

9 Nisei Ambassadors 73.100

10 Beverly Cardinals 72.950

11 Appleknockers 70.250

12 Milford Shoreliners 67.850

What a time!

Puppet

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Hi Puppet, nice to see you again :-) The U.S. Open was our big trip the summers of 71-76. We were at North Americans in Toronto Aug. 9, 1970. We saw 7 corps there but seems that St. Joseph's of Batavia, Anaheim Kingsmen and De La Salle were also at U.S. Open 1970? They must have travelled all night.

The corps I was with were in Open class. Here's our placing in U.S. Open prelims:

Aug. 14, 1971 - 16th

Aug. 12, 1972 - 13th

Aug. 11, 1973 - 20th

Aug. 09, 1974 - 15th

Aug. 08, 1975 - 18th

Aug. 13, 1976 - 1st

Personally, I enjoyed attending the U.S. Open, lots of corps, lots of excitement and a good trip for us. Thank you Marion, Ohio.

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  • 5 years later...

Let me add my two cents even if it is five years late. I competed there with the Geneva Appleknockers 1970-1973. My fondest memories are 1970 and 1971. In 1970 we missed finals placing placing 13th (they took 10), but I made good use of the resulting free afternoon following our prelim performance to seek out a rehearsing finalist. Since I had driven to Marion, I was able to drive to the rehearsal site of the corps of my choice. For me that was the Argonne Rebels. I had never had the opportunity to see the corps live, but had heard the high praises their horn line was receiving. When I arrived, I found them in a 50 horn semicircle. I was surprised at the number of young ladies in the line which was unusual for the era. What I beheld from the horn line was spine tingling! "Barnum and Bailey's Favorites" being played with power and a depth of sound which I had never heard from a corps before. All the harmonies and moving lines shimmered and soared. This was obviously a line where everybody "got it"!

That night at finals I was also blown away by another corps which I had never seen, The St. Paul Scouts. Their drill was fast moving and bold with "big picture" maneuvers. Great memories, indeed!

1971 were some of my best drum corps memories as we made finals. After six years of marching with the corps which introduced me to the world of drum corps, we had arrived at long last. It was our first and destined to be our last appearance in a national competition finals. 1972 and 1973 would see our fortunes fade in the stadium where you could stand at the top and feel like you could see for miles across the plains of the Midwest.

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