lindap Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Thanks, Linda. Truth be told, the Shriners International shows in which I participated (including 1970 and '71) remain my all-time "favourite" venues. The crowds were very appreciative, the folks of Greater Toronto and Hamilton area were warm and genuine, and the shows were impeccably organized and conducted. However, to this day, members of Blue Rock believe the judges robbed them of the 1971 title by means of a "mysterious" 2.0 point color guard penalty. (They subsequently received the same penalty at the National Dream competition in New Jersey.) Thanks for your kind words W.P. I noticed corpsrep.com has 1971 Shriner’s International as held on June 17. According to my scrapbook, which contains the 1971 Shriner’s program, a newspaper advertisement and my ticket stub, the contest was held on Saturday June 19, 1971 starting at 7:30 pm at the CNE Stadium. Reserved seats (reds) were $4.00, reserved seats (blues) were $3.50 and general admission was $3.00. We bought tickets for the greatest show on earth! The 1971 program lists 12 judges plus 2 tabulators who were from Ontario. Of the 12 judges, 1 was from PA, 2 from N.Y (including H. Drietzer) and 9 judges from Ont. most likely with CJA. The National Dream was held on August 8, 1971. Most likely there was a different panel of judges. The Alhambra Invitational was held on August 2, 1971 starting 7:00 pm at Toronto Varsity stadium. 27th Lancers were there but Blue Rock wasn’t. My corps competed that night and we came in second last. Yeah! I kept a news article from the Alhambra parade earlier in the day. Excerpts ‘there were 20 drum and bugle corps…estimated 40,000 persons watched the 90 minute parade…Portland, a camel who appeared in Lawrence of Arabia, on the Dean Martin TV show and as transportation for Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 on Get Smart … Portland, the camel, was pregnant during the parade. “We were hoping she wouldn’t have a baby before the parade” said the zoo director. She was paid $250 to march the parade.’ Here’s half a page of the 1971 Shriner’s International program…um… Peter and I were on a drum corps date. The contest order was determined by a draw by Vincent Macciocchi, Chief Judge, C.J.A. After the contest, while the scores were tabulated, we picked our rankings. I wrote the scores as they were announced. My selective memory of the day is that yellow school buses weren’t the best to sleep in but drum corps contests are tops, especially one when you were on your first date ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navillus WP Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 While St. Williams's did have some formidable competition, people often questioned how skilled and powerful groups such as St. Ann Neponset and St. Agnes in Arlington placed behind them and the argument was always that St. William's and Hudson were "clean." Before marching with Two-Seven, I marched with St. Agnes "Senior" CYO Band (BAC's Ed Denon was our instructor) as did all of my three brothers and three sisters. "Aggies" had the distinction of being the only organization to ever beat "Willies" twice in a row. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 "Aggies" had the distinction of being the only organization to ever beat "Willies" twice in a row. Didn't Ed D. also teach St. Williams? Maybe not at the same time as St. Agnes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navillus WP Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Didn't Ed D. also teach St. Williams? Maybe not at the same time as St. Agnes. Dunno, Ghost, but I don't think so. He did Aggies until their demise in 1979, as well as Princemen, Holy Family (for a while), BAC, Sancians, and R.I. Matadors. Rick Connor (former member of Cambridge Cabelleros and instructor of North Star) was St. Williams music instructor/arranger from mid-70's\to mid-80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navillus WP Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Drumno5 posted this refernce to "judging peculiarity" elsewhere ... " We had a kid drop a stick - 0.1 penalty. The judge handed him the stick a few seconds later, which he took and resumed playing. Onto retreat later - we win the show. Then - a half an hour later when we're back at the buses packing up - the chief judge/contest director (or some other big wheel, can't remember who) comes running up and says that we've been assessed an additional penalty of a full point because the kid "took" the stick from the judge's hand rather than "receiving" it from him (whatever the heck that meant). They took back the first place trophy and gave it to the corps that had placed behind us. What a rip-off! " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Thanks, Linda. Truth be told, the Shriners International shows in which I participated (including 1970 and '71) remain my all-time "favourite" venues. The crowds were very appreciative, the folks of Greater Toronto and Hamilton area were warm and genuine, and the shows were impeccably organized and conducted. However, to this day, members of Blue Rock believe the judges robbed them of the 1971 title by means of a "mysterious" 2.0 point color guard penalty. (They subsequently received the same penalty at the National Dream competition in New Jersey.) I enjoyed the show too...marched 71 with Garfield. Might have been the only time we "beat" Blue Rock all year! Plus, the recording of the 71 show is great. The Canadian company that recorded the show used a different setup of mics than Fleetwood did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Thanks for your kind words W.P. I noticed corpsrep.com has 1971 Shriner’s International as held on June 17. According to my scrapbook, which contains the 1971 Shriner’s program, a newspaper advertisement and my ticket stub, the contest was held on Saturday June 19, 1971 starting at 7:30 pm at the CNE Stadium. Reserved seats (reds) were $4.00, reserved seats (blues) were $3.50 and general admission was $3.00. We bought tickets for the greatest show on earth! I think you are right, Linda. I graduated from HS on Friday June 18, as did a bunch of us in the Garfield Cadets. We met in Garfield at around 9:00 or 10:00 PM and a caravan of about 4 cars, driven by parents/volunteers, drove all night to get us to Toronto for the Saturday show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navillus WP Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I graduated from HS on Friday June 18, as did a bunch of us in the Garfield Cadets. Ironically, in 1970 I participated in my high school graduation ceremony. left early to jump into car to drive to Revere in order to just-barely catch a bus departing for Shriners. In 1971, four of our corps-mates graduated from Boston High School (a non-traditional public high school) and jumped in a car to meet the corps buses in Sturgridge, MA that had already departed from Revere on the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) headed for Shriners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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