dckid80 Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 I competed against Fitchburg as a jr corps. Not aware that they were in DCA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Fitchburg was a hoot when Pepe was with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 A bit earlier than DCA perhaps, but there were the Fitchburg Kingsmen, the Salem/Peabody Clippers, the Milton Grenadiers, the Springfield Marksmen, several senior corps from southern New Hampshire, and several from Maine - including the ever-popular Booma Bombers. And don't forget the Holy Rosary Caballeros from Providence. Marksmen are still around from what I understand, that question came up on a thread about Plymouth earlier in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Well, historically speaking, the only DCA corps to come out of MA were the Princemen, New Bedford Whalers and the Renegades (yes, there was one in 72) ... from RI you had the Matadors and Generations ... so ... there has not been much interest through the years in fielding a DCA corps from MA ... however, there now seems to be a VERY active movement in Alumni and Mini Corps from the area ...:-) BITD, The Interstatesmen were sometimes listed as being from Pittsfield, MA, sometimes Troy, NY (the two cities are only about 45 minutes apart). IIRC, Excelsior now hails from the same general area. Of course, this geographically is about 2-3 hours west of where today's concentration of corps is located in eastern MA/southern NH/northern RI. For anyone from that area interested in marching a competing DCA corps, your closest bet is probably the Hurcs-and considering you'd have to travel through Hartford to get to Derby, that could easily be a 4-5 hour endeavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 A bit earlier than DCA perhaps, but there were the Fitchburg Kingsmen, the Salem/Peabody Clippers, the Milton Grenadiers, the Springfield Marksmen, several senior corps from southern New Hampshire, and several from Maine - including the ever-popular Booma Bombers. And don't forget the Holy Rosary Caballeros from Providence. You're right about the Marksmen and Fitchburg ... I was mainly thinking of the Boston Area ... someone also mentioned the Holy Rosary Cabs but, I only remember them as a Yankee Circuit Corps ... anyway ... lots of DC history in MA ... nice to see the healthy Alumni movement going on ... looking forward to the St. Kevin's/BHOF I&E show up in Quincy on March 20th ... many of the area's Alumni corps mentioned will be performing ... Andy "not the Roo" Lisko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyroo Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 You're right about the Marksmen and Fitchburg ... I was mainly thinking of the Boston Area ... someone also mentioned the Holy Rosary Cabs but, I only remember them as a Yankee Circuit Corps ... anyway ... lots of DC history in MA ... nice to see the healthy Alumni movement going on ... looking forward to the St. Kevin's/BHOF I&E show up in Quincy on March 20th ... many of the area's Alumni corps mentioned will be performing ...Andy "not the Roo" Lisko As has been pointed out earlier, there was an enormous junior corps activity in the eastern Mass/Greater Boston area - with the numbers supporting three distinct circuits (Eastern Mass., Mayflower, and CYO). Unfortunately, however, that began to peter out in the Sixties and early Seventies. Today, the ages of the folks involved back then would be in the mid-fifties at the very least - hardly conducive to a competitive corps. I will say, however, that one of the things that's always surprised me was the lack of interest in an alumni corps on the part of the Cardinals/North Star organization. A reunion of that crowd could result in a very impressive alumni corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sopbabe Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Most of the corps on your list are alumni/parade/exhibition corps. That usually translates to "sorry, but I'm too old, or too involved with my family, or too tied up in my career, etc., etc."Alumni corps exist for a purpose - generally for those who, for whatever reason, are not interested in a competitive commitment. I absolutely agree that there's a ton of talent in that Eastern Mass area, but it's equally clear that there isn't the level of interest for a competition corps. That is a very true statement. I had marched competitively 2 years ago with the Sun Devils here in Florida and it was great however after that I now know that I am a bit too old to be marching competitively so....doing the alumni thing works. I miss doing it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEEXCELSIORDIRECTOR Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 (edited) EXCELSIOR is 6 years old now. Is in their 2nd season of Competing - and is from Both the Capital Region of NY and The Berkshires ~ and has more so firmly planted roots since the alliance with the Targets in 2009 in the Springfield/ Holyoke/ Pittsfield / Chicopee / Ware / Ludlow etc. Mass area. Imagine if you will, ( if all the people who are traveling to far off drum corps' firmly planted their foot in their own back yard) ...... how more then Class A Their local drum corps could be If they all committed to the area. Donel Mataruga - Edited January 5, 2010 by THEEXCELSIORDIRECTOR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsBuff Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Bring back the Lynn Continentals!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill R Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 You're right about the Marksmen and Fitchburg ... I was mainly thinking of the Boston Area ... someone also mentioned the Holy Rosary Cabs but, I only remember them as a Yankee Circuit Corps ... anyway ... lots of DC history in MA ... nice to see the healthy Alumni movement going on ... looking forward to the St. Kevin's/BHOF I&E show up in Quincy on March 20th ... many of the area's Alumni corps mentioned will be performing ...Andy "not the Roo" Lisko Holy Rosary may have also competed in Northeast but I'm not sure. It was the Holy Rosary Caballeros that in late 68 or early 69 combined with another corps, The 77TH Skylarks to form the Matadors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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