amadorj Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) In the early 1960’s a young music teacher ventured away from the cornfields of Iowa, making his way to the west coast and his new home in the sunny state of California. This young Iowa teacher had already accumulated a vast background judging Drum Corps shows throughout the nation, and had taught brass to a small drum corps back in a nearby town - the Gowrie Gauchos drum and bugle corps. As he arrived in California he longed to get back to teaching music, and introducing drum corps music to young kids. In 1965 he started working with a small drum corps called the Sunnyvale Sparks Drum and Bugle corps, teaching brass and arranging the corps music. Many of the kids were from the local middle schools where he taught music. The drum corps was small, with only 18 horns, and geared mainly as a parade corps that participated throughout Northern California. There were even times he would dress up and be the Drum Major for the corps at parades since they needed each member playing an instrument or drum. Over time the corps grew and improved in quality as they started pulling in better skilled musicians from the college level, mainly from the local San Jose State Marching Band program. As the corps blossomed so too did this young music teacher from Iowa. The potential of this small corps continued to grow and now he wanted his young kids to see higher caliber drum corps from other regions so the kids could see what better class drum corps were all about. At that time, the Sparks organization was comprised of a drum and bugle corps, a majorette group, and a drum and bell corps. As the caliber of the drum and bugle corps element of the Sparks continued to blossom and grow, the Sparks management was content to continue hosting their organization, but their focus remained on the majorette group and drum and bell corps. Continuing disagreement over the direction of the various elements of the Sparks organization eventually led to the drum and bugle corps portion breaking away. On March 6, 1967, a new drum and bugle corps was born. The first order of business at the first meeting of the members was selecting a name for this new drum corps. As members and parents started putting names up on a chalk board, that young school teacher whittled away at the list, finally narrowing it down to three names – The Cardinals, The Spartans, and The Vanguard. The group voted and in the end the name Vanguard was selected. The teacher didn’t want the name confused with any other drum corps named Vanguard, so he insisted the city be a part of the official name – The Santa Clara Vanguard. That young music teacher from Iowa was Gail “GR” Royer. Gail, of course, became the corps’ first Director, and the driving force behind the development of a legendary organization benefitting the young people he so loved. Under his tenure Santa Clara Vanguard went on to win an American Legion National Championship (1970), a VFW National Championship (1971), and five DCI Championships (1973, 1974, 1978, 1981, and 1989). Happy Birthday to all of the members of the Santa Clara Vanguard family this March 6th!!! Edited March 3, 2011 by amadorj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDale Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Happy Birthday to all of the members of the Santa Clara Vanguard family this March 6th!!! Happy Birthday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianM Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Don't forget 1999! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amadorj Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Don't forget 1999! True - but 1999 did not occur under Gail Royer's rein. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianM Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 My bad. I should have read the last sentence more carefully! Still very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amadorj Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 My bad. I should have read the last sentence more carefully! Still very impressive. Indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTSUR66 Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 In the early 1960’s a young music teacher ventured away from the cornfields of Iowa, making his way to the west coast and his new home in the sunny state of California. This young Iowa teacher had already accumulated a vast background judging Drum Corps shows throughout the nation, and had taught brass to a small drum corps back in a nearby town - the Gowrie Gauchos drum and bugle corps. As he arrived in California he longed to get back to teaching music, and introducing drum corps music to young kids. In 1965 he started working with a small drum corps called the Sunnyvale Sparks Drum and Bugle corps, teaching brass and arranging the corps music. Many of the kids were from the local middle schools where he taught music. The drum corps was small, with only 18 horns, and geared mainly as a parade corps that participated throughout Northern California. There were even times he would dress up and be the Drum Major for the corps at parades since they needed each member playing an instrument or drum. Over time the corps grew and improved in quality as they started pulling in better skilled musicians from the college level, mainly from the local San Jose State Marching Band program. As the corps blossomed so too did this young music teacher from Iowa. The potential of this small corps continued to grow and now he wanted his young kids to see higher caliber drum corps from other regions so the kids could see what better class drum corps were all about. At that time, the Sparks organization was comprised of a drum and bugle corps, a majorette group, and a drum and bell corps. As the caliber of the drum and bugle corps element of the Sparks continued to blossom and grow, the Sparks management was content to continue hosting their organization, but their focus remained on the majorette group and drum and bell corps. Continuing disagreement over the direction of the various elements of the Sparks organization eventually led to the drum and bugle corps portion breaking away. On March 6, 1967, a new drum and bugle corps was born. The first order of business at the first meeting of the members was selecting a name for this new drum corps. As members and parents started putting names up on a chalk board, that young school teacher whittled away at the list, finally narrowing it down to three names – The Cardinals, The Spartans, and The Vanguard. The group voted and in the end the name Vanguard was selected. The teacher didn’t want the name confused with any other drum corps named Vanguard, so he insisted the city be a part of the official name – The Santa Clara Vanguard. That young music teacher from Iowa was Gail “GR” Royer. Gail, of course, became the corps’ first Director, and the driving force behind the development of a legendary organization benefitting the young people he so loved. Under his tenure Santa Clara Vanguard went on to win an American Legion National Championship (1970), a VFW National Championship (1971), and five DCI Championships (1973, 1974, 1978, 1981, and 1989). Happy Birthday to all of the members of the Santa Clara Vanguard family this March 6th!!! Jesse...How well do you tremember 66-67 ? Do you know the backstory behind your story of the corp name? Mail me if you'd like to know? Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) Jesse...How well do you tremember 66-67 ? Do you know the backstory behind your story of the corp name? Mail me if you'd like to know? Rick Happy birthday to the Santa Clara Vanguard. Not sure about how their name was selected. But if I have it right, their forerunner, The Sparks Drum and Bugle Corps ( Sunnyvale, Ca. ) was disbanded by the Parents Organization and Board of Directors in 1967 because they no longer wanted a "Drum and Bugle Corps". Instead, they wanted a "Drum and Bell Corps ", with Majorettes". So the Sparks Drum and Bugle Corps was disbanded. Into this void, stepped a group of people that started a new Drum and Bugle Corps which they called " The Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps ". Presumably they moved the operation from Sunnyvale to nearby Santa Clara. Edited March 9, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTSUR66 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Happy birthday to the Santa Clara Vanguard. Not sure about how their name was selected. But if I have it right, their forerunner, The Sparks Drum and Bugle Corps ( Sunnyvale, Ca. ) was disbanded by the Parents Organization and Board of Directors in 1967 because they no longer wanted a "Drum and Bugle Corps". Instead, they wanted a "Drum and Bell Corps ", with Majorettes". So the Sparks Drum and Bugle Corps was disbanded. Into this void, stepped a group of people that started a new Drum and Bugle Corps which they called " The Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps ". Presumably they moved the operation from Sunnyvale to nearby Santa Clara. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTSUR66 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Brasso...Believe Amador has it right... From what I recall the SANTA CLARA part of the corpswas named to reflect the entire county of Santa Clara. ...not the city... PTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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