Paul Milano Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Long ago, the Cavaliers won their first national championship at the VFW contest in 1957. In part they won because they were the only corps to have the newly produced plastic drum heads from Ludwig. It rained the night of Finals and all the other corps played on soggy calf-skin heads. Cavaliers won drums by a goodly margin and thus the championship. Another corps in green, the Reilly Raiders senior corps, asked to borrow the Cavaliers’ drums with the plastic heads and they too won drums by a goodly margin, and the senior corps championship. Later that evening a rival junior corps, who had won most of the championships of the 1950s, decided to take out their disappointment against the Cavaliers in the parking lot after the show. They were apparently doing a pretty good job of it too until Reilly Raiders joined the fray and ran them off. Thus a friendship was born. Fast forward more than 50 years . . . Jim Costello, a Cavalier alumnus, is having dinner with some old drum corps folks in California a few years ago and the story of the '57 Championships comes up since someone from Reilly Raiders was in attendance. They all discuss maybe doing some sort of commemorative drum exchange as a belated thank you and show of continuing friendship since both corps still exist (Reilly Raiders is currently an excellent Alumni Corps). A few folks get involved, including Dan Smith and Frank Neill of Reilly Raiders, and with help from Cavalier alums Matt O’Brien, Mike Lorenz, and Paul Milano, a vintage drum is found on eBay just like the Cavaliers used in 1957 and it is restored to look exactly like the drum used in 1957 – complete with an authentic 1957 plastic drum head! The recent DCA Labor Day weekend festivities became the perfect setting to surprise the Reilly Raiders! Scotty Wild, Cavalier alum who marched in 1957, made the presentation to the Reilly Raiders, retelling the story of that night more than 50 years ago. In the Reilly Raiders ranks at DCA were five members who marched and fought by the side of the young Cavaliers at that long ago national championship evening. They were in tears as they were handed the drum - this time to keep, not just to borrow. The DCA executive leadership then heard about the presentation and asked the two corps to repeat the presentation in front of the large crowd of mainly “vintage” audience members in the stands at the Alumni Show on Sunday morning, which Scotty Wild again graciously handled with class as usual. It was wonderful to witness the continuing friendship between the two corps. Thanks to all involved! Scotty Wild telling the 1957 story to the Reilly Raiders Paul Milano handing the drum to Reilly Some Cavaliers with members of the 1957 Reilly Raiders 1957 Reilly members with Scotty Wild at the DCA Alumni Show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Way too neat... thanks for sharing.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Long ago, the Cavaliers won their first national championship at the VFW contest in 1957. In part they won because they were the only corps to have the newly produced plastic drum heads from Ludwig. It rained the night of Finals and all the other corps played on soggy calf-skin heads. Cavaliers won drums by a goodly margin and thus the championship. Another corps in green, the Reilly Raiders senior corps, asked to borrow the Cavaliers’ drums with the plastic heads and they too won drums by a goodly margin, and the senior corps championship. Later that evening a rival junior corps, who had won most of the championships of the 1950s, decided to take out their disappointment against the Cavaliers in the parking lot after the show. They were apparently doing a pretty good job of it too until Reilly Raiders joined the fray and ran them off. Thus a friendship was born. Fast forward more than 50 years . . . Jim Costello, a Cavalier alumnus, is having dinner with some old drum corps folks in California a few years ago and the story of the '57 Championships comes up since someone from Reilly Raiders was in attendance. They all discuss maybe doing some sort of commemorative drum exchange as a belated thank you and show of continuing friendship since both corps still exist (Reilly Raiders is currently an excellent Alumni Corps). A few folks get involved, including Dan Smith and Frank Neill of Reilly Raiders, and with help from Cavalier alums Matt O’Brien, Mike Lorenz, and Paul Milano, a vintage drum is found on eBay just like the Cavaliers used in 1957 and it is restored to look exactly like the drum used in 1957 – complete with an authentic 1957 plastic drum head! The recent DCA Labor Day weekend festivities became the perfect setting to surprise the Reilly Raiders! Scotty Wild, Cavalier alum who marched in 1957, made the presentation to the Reilly Raiders, retelling the story of that night more than 50 years ago. In the Reilly Raiders ranks at DCA were five members who marched and fought by the side of the young Cavaliers at that long ago national championship evening. They were in tears as they were handed the drum - this time to keep, not just to borrow. The DCA executive leadership then heard about the presentation and asked the two corps to repeat the presentation in front of the large crowd of mainly “vintage” audience members in the stands at the Alumni Show on Sunday morning, which Scotty Wild again graciously handled with class as usual. It was wonderful to witness the continuing friendship between the two corps. Thanks to all involved! Scotty Wild telling the 1957 story to the Reilly Raiders Paul Milano handing the drum to Reilly Some Cavaliers with members of the 1957 Reilly Raiders 1957 Reilly members with Scotty Wild at the DCA Alumni Show Tsk ... tsk ... and no one from St. Vinnie's or Archie was invited to the party???? ... LOL ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathie Wiener Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 This was one of the coolest moments of the whole weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Tsk ... tsk ... and no one from St. Vinnie's or Archie was invited to the party???? ... LOL ... :-) "St Vinnies": Two things very true about this great article: The "Eastern Corps that was winning most of the 1950's Championships" (St Vincents Cadets,) and Vinnies doing a good job in the parking lot. Thanks for sharing. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Molho Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Scotty Wild is a hero and friend of mine. In addition to his never ending commitment to the Cavaliers, Scotty is also a key leader in Minnesota Brass. He is currently on our Board of Directors, has previously served as corps director and is a recipient of the "Brassy," our highest honor in the corps. For the past two months he was at our rehearsals twitching to get out on the field and clean some drill! The guy doesn't stop. During DCA, I usually get to spend a lot of time with Scotty (he has plenty of stories to fill 20 hours in the RV let me assure you!). And I never stop learning from him. This is a wonderful story of drum corps and I'm so glad my friend and mentor was able to be a part of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBurnell Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 I'm glad they didn't celebrate by re-enacting the rumble ;) I wonder when the last drum corps fisticuffs incident was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 (edited) I'm glad they didn't celebrate by re-enacting the rumble ;) I wonder when the last drum corps fisticuffs incident was? "Last Rites?: I can't be sure just "When" the last "Brawl" took place, but two big ones that I actually SAW were at the 1961 VFW Nationals and the 1968 Bridgeport "Review of Champions". The 1961 fracas took place ON THE FIELD at the VFW Finals Retreat. St Vincents Cadets (Again) got into a HUGE fight with the Charleston MA St Marys Majestic Knights. There had been bad blood between these two units earlier in the season, and the VFW folks placed them next to each other at retreat. St Vincents was disbanded at the end of the 1961 season. The Director/Drill Instructor Mickey Petrone and a big chunk of the marching membership wewnt to the Newark NJ Woodsider. The 1968 brawl took place in front of Central HS in Bridgeport CT. St Lucys Cadets had upset the Boston Crusaders in the contest and the two units "Faced off" again in the "Post Cotest Action". Elphaba WWW Edited September 10, 2011 by elphaba01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K2SMA Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 This was one of the BEST moments of the weekend, and certainly of the Alumni Spectacular. I was a bit unsure how this would go when Larry Hershman first brought it to my attention earlier in the show. But thanks to both Paul and Frank being up in the booth with me, it went off without a hitch. There was no reharsal and it seems that everyone was pleased to hear the story - either "again" or for the first time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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