Discussion

[old vanguard]

10 hours ago, Tim K said:

I have an interesting connection to St. Mary’s Cardinals of Beverly. I am assigned as a priest at the parish that once sponsored the corps. In the mural in the dining room of the rectory there is a mural featuring a parade and the Cardinals are leading the pack. They have an alumni association that sponsors the Beanpot Invitational, on the grounds of the former Manning Bowl that is now Manning Field in Lynn. A great venue for high school sports, a bit cozy for those of us no longer the same size we were in high school. The proceeds of the show fund scholarships for one marching member from each competing corps as well as kids in music programs in Lynn and Beverly. They want to give back to say thank you for drum corps did for them. Class Act!

I had the pleasure of meeting Father John M. D'Arcy in 1965 when the Cardinals were in Chicago for VFW Nationals. They competed at the Des Plaines Vanguard show while there. He was a very bright, guy with a great sense of humor. I was impressed, and felt that the Cardinals had a first class Moderator.

[mccarty]

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Edited April 15, 2022 by mccarty
Not in proper string

[mccarty]

On 5/9/2019 at 6:47 AM, OldSnareDrummer said:

Story about the Belleville Black Knights from that era. BK had always been the Cavaliers' bridesmaid for decades and finally in 1973 put a corps together capable of beating the Cavies, which coincided with a Cavalier down year during their 25th anniversary. Cavies' show was pretty bad, but BK's Crown Imperial, Get it On and Man from LaMancha won over the crowds and judges bigtime. In June when BK won Illinois VFW State, BK became the most arrogant, obnoxious corps ever and seriously thought their poop didn't stink. The MMs were all trash talkers when you'd see them around at other shows and would publically taunt the Cavaliers in front of anybody. I was in a small corps at the time and wasn't even that big of Cavaliers fan, but still thought geez, what a-holes these people were. Well, the Cavaliers didn't get much redemption as they failed to make DCI Finals. BK barely squeaked in by .1 over DeLaSalle in prelims which aggravated me even more. Then when they moved up to 10th over Argonne in finals, I thought I was going to have a stoke at age 16. To this day, if I ever run into a BK from 1973, I swear I'll let the air out of their tires. Not that I hold grudges. 

Please feel free to come to my house and try to let the air out of my tires, By the way, Belleville beat De LaSalle by 1.00 (1 point) in prelims ... not .10

[ironlips]

19 hours ago, mccarty said:

Please feel free to come to my house and try to let the air out of my tires, By the way, Belleville beat De LaSalle by 1.00 (1 point) in prelims ... not .10

Let the air out of someone's tires? Oh my! (as George Takei might say).

Drum Corps people from the mid-west are so polite, by comparison. Back east, they had gang fights and pushed buses down ravines. These very same people to this day will claim that Drum Corps kept them out of trouble and "saved" their lives.

Who's kidding whom? Most of these corps were simply extensions of the Juvenile Justice System, a cheaper alternative to incarceration, particularly the ones with church affiliations.

[old vanguard]

The Skokie/Chicago/Des PLaines Vanguard was a gang-with instruments in the late fifties and early sixties. Several near-rumbles with other midwestern corps during that period.