Pioneer

[KeithHall]

I missed some years for some reason....

I thought Pioneer began in the 1970's? I know this because they came to the NT Open because originally they were signed up as The Thing. That was in 1974 or 1975. Now I was 14 or 15 at that time....is it still 2010? Or did I REALLY sleep in this morning and it's 2025? Can someone explain?

I hope the 50th anniversary of the corps can bring many of the the alumni out of the woodwork. To stay.

[PioneerWebmaster]

I missed some years for some reason....

I thought Pioneer began in the 1970's? I know this because they came to the NT Open because originally they were signed up as The Thing. That was in 1974 or 1975. Now I was 14 or 15 at that time....is it still 2010? Or did I REALLY sleep in this morning and it's 2025? Can someone explain?

Keith-

Here is a snapshot of our early years:

In the spring of 1961, Fr. McGarry, the Pastor of St. Patrick's Parish, told Sisters Cristoval and Benno that St. Patrick's School needed a drum and bugle corps. Since then approximately 5,200 students have performed, traveled, and socialized in a manner that most people only wish for. From these roots came the Irish tradition as well as the multiple shades and ways of wearing the color green.

The first name given the corps was "The Imperials of St. Patrick". The first instructors who all lived in Milwaukee's South Side were all members of the nationally ranked Norwood Park Imperials.

1961-1970- The corps purchased equipment The uniforms were donated by Walter Kendon and the Westmont V.F.W. Post. There were a lot of beginning 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students being taught the basics of marching and instrument playing. Competing in the Class C and B areas was abundant. The purchase of our own buses to travel to the out of state contests made for the solid development of the corps. All rehearsals took place either at the school or the nearby St. John's Gymnasium. At this time there were 12 corps in the Milwaukee area.

1971-1979- The seventies decade was an era where the operational costs of the Corps surpassed our fundraising abilities. A nearby suburban Corps, the Tunderbolts, was also in need. A merger took place between the two Corps which created a 150 member Corps, financial stability, and a temporary name, "The Thing". An offer of sponsorship from Mr. Jack Dryer of the Pioneer Box and Container Corporation inspired the Corps to take on the Pioneer name. A very strong brass line was the feature, supported two cadet Corps that rehearsed in the Cedarburg, WI Community Center. New green suede and vinyl uniform jackets fit the name but proved to be impractical, so another change to a bright yellow coat took place as well as the Corps' theme, "The Great Entertainer". This carried out to the end of the decade, "The Pioneer" from Cedarburg, WI.

Edited September 19, 2010 by PioneerWebmaster

[corps8294]

For as much criticism as I give Pioneer, I must say that I actually like the lime-yellow jackets they had up through 1988.

Gotta give some recognition to Pioneer II. I remember competing against them way back in CCI. Olive green uniforms!

[thirdcoast]

I think staying relevant is big, and the Alums. of this Corps need to get involved. Donate your time to this Corps, if you cant send them 10 bucks. Hell, I am not an alum and I am donating this year. PIONEER need some fresh air and you alums out there in DCP can really help Roman and Company. Let me tell you all that helping your Corps is really important, I have been doing it with my Corps every year from the day I aged out in 89. I will keep you all relevant here in DCP land. There will be no searching for PIONEER posts in 2011.

So.... Alums. whats next?

[thirdcoast]

22 thousand views, thats what im talking about.

GO PIONEER!

When is your 1st camp?

[JohnDonovanDotBiz]

I've mostly avoided this thread for a variety of reasons, but I have to respond to this...

To say that the 1996 corps "went through the motions" on finals night is completely false. If you had said that we went through the motions earlier that day at prelims, it may have been more believable. Nobody in their right minds thought that Les Etoiles was going to make up 6+ points in 5 days to catch us at prelims. I still don't believe it was possible because we've never seen the feat accomplished again. Thus all of the conspiracy talk that creeps up anytime you discuss the 1996 season with someone who marched with Pioneer that year. Throughout the whole season it was implied that we didn't belong in Division 2 by many people in various positions. How does it look when a 6 point spread closes in a matter of a couple days? What would you think if you were a member of that corps?

If anything, our eyes the last weeks of the season were on the corps that were directly ahead of us in Division 1. We left the last regional of the season in Allentown seeded in 14th place in Division 1, but lost that seeding at Quarterfinals because we were still in Division 2. Nevertheless, we had our eyes on 13th place and on possibly even being top 12 and were rehearsing our rear ends off trying to get there. We wanted to be the first corps to march all four nights. But I digress... At Division 2 finals night, all eyes were on the mission. There wasn't a single person in that corps that "went through the motions" that night. There wasn't a single person on that field at Grand Finale that wasn't devastated when the scores were announced. And there wasn't a single person that didn't go out and march their rear ends off at quarterfinals because we thought we still had a legitimate shot at least at making semifinals and sure the heck wanted to get revenge against the corps that had beaten us. In the end, we ended up 20th. It is what it is.... You pick yourself up and move on.

Thank you!

[PioneerWebmaster]

First Camp:

December 10-12

Cudahy High School

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

If anything, this thread has generated a lot of interest in the corps and people are checking us out. Web stats that I'm seeing are a clear indication of that. And in the coming weeks there will be a series of announcements that will hope to clear up a lot of the questions that folks have had through this thread and hopefully generate even more interest!

[PioneerWebmaster]

I think staying relevant is big, and the Alums. of this Corps need to get involved. Donate your time to this Corps, if you cant send them 10 bucks. Hell, I am not an alum and I am donating this year. PIONEER need some fresh air and you alums out there in DCP can really help Roman and Company. Let me tell you all that helping your Corps is really important, I have been doing it with my Corps every year from the day I aged out in 89. I will keep you all relevant here in DCP land. There will be no searching for PIONEER posts in 2011.

So.... Alums. whats next?

We are working to get alums involved. The first step in all honesty is tracking them down... all couple thousand of them. We're active on Facebook with an alumni group, have created an alumni website, and are conducting a survey on our website that's geared toward the 50th anniversary as well as the possibility of creating an alumni association in the future to be of service to the corps. There are a lot of people out there that marched with Pioneer, St. Pats, and the Thunderbolts that want to see Pioneer do well. Many just don't know how they can be of help. We're working on ways to engage those alumni and allow them to help through either time committments or financial assistance.

[JohnDonovanDotBiz]

I think it is safe to say that 1996 was the strongest corps Pioneer has ever put on the field.

Mike Zerhusen

Pioneer bari/euph 94-98

Thank you!

Roman needs to start investing "real" cash into his corps by retaining staff that marched with the corps in 96, which we will now call, the legacy of the corps.

Biggest immediate problem is the percussion program lost ALL the fire it had, like a decade ago?? I'm already working on the basics of a plan that involves using the strongest percussion talent from that line, which are still in the work force either as performers, university instructors or visual design experts. "Folks, these are people feeding themselves from their skills," From the Pioneer drumline alone in 96, there is diverse talent to tap into which can effect most of the corps. The days of hiring local cheap college age talent has to end. Our drum staff in 96 was not local, not cheap, and brought us the hardware. They knew how to work us and they didn't have a part time bowling league mentality.

[thirdcoast]

Thank you!

Roman needs to start investing "real" cash into his corps by retaining staff that marched with the corps in 96, which we will now call, the legacy of the corps.

Biggest immediate problem is the percussion program lost ALL the fire it had, like a decade ago?? I'm already working on the basics of a plan that involves using the strongest percussion talent from that line, which are still in the work force either as performers, university instructors or visual design experts. "Folks, these are people feeding themselves from their skills," From the Pioneer drumline alone in 96, there is diverse talent to tap into which can effect most of the corps. The days of hiring local cheap college age talent has to end. Our drum staff in 96 was not local, not cheap, and brought us the hardware. They knew how to work us and they didn't have a part time bowling league mentality.

There you are. Being negative(part time bowling league) does not help your cause. Instead of putting a plan together by yourself, for yourself you I think need to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are doing your plan for your Corps, or for yourself. 96 was a good year for PIONEER but dude in reality start at the top and watch all the Corps from that year and then we will talk about how good you all really were. Reality is a ##### my man. You all were good but not that good.

Sorry dude but your last post made me a little salty.