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Early DCI question


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I have an early DCI question.   Just prior to the formation of DCI, there were a few eastern corps that had some strong competitive success.......Blessed Sacrament, Blue Rock, and St. Rita's Brassmen.    I heard rumors that when DCI was formed, there were some corps who were opposed to the new organization.  I do not have confirmed info, but I believe that these three corps may have been among them.  Blessed Sacrament does not have a 72 season listed, so it looks as though they stopped competing, even though they were still respectable competitively in 1971.  Neither St. Rita's or Blue Rock competed in the 1972 DCI Championships (Whitewater), though they both were competitive and beat corps that were finalists.  Perhaps traveling to Wisc. was an issue for both 72 and 73.  Blue Rock did go in 1973, but didn't qualify, as they were slipping competitively.

  Does anyone know more here?  Perhaps the new "touring model" that was evolving, made it difficult for corps to travel out of region to compete.   It is rather sad, as here are 3 corps that were all clearly quite competitive just as DCI was forming, but faded after the formation.

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3 hours ago, Bob984 said:

I have an early DCI question.   Just prior to the formation of DCI, there were a few eastern corps that had some strong competitive success.......Blessed Sacrament, Blue Rock, and St. Rita's Brassmen.    I heard rumors that when DCI was formed, there were some corps who were opposed to the new organization.  I do not have confirmed info, but I believe that these three corps may have been among them.  Blessed Sacrament does not have a 72 season listed, so it looks as though they stopped competing, even though they were still respectable competitively in 1971.  Neither St. Rita's or Blue Rock competed in the 1972 DCI Championships (Whitewater), though they both were competitive and beat corps that were finalists.  Perhaps traveling to Wisc. was an issue for both 72 and 73.  Blue Rock did go in 1973, but didn't qualify, as they were slipping competitively.

  Does anyone know more here?  Perhaps the new "touring model" that was evolving, made it difficult for corps to travel out of region to compete.   It is rather sad, as here are 3 corps that were all clearly quite competitive just as DCI was forming, but faded after the formation.

As far as I know, Carman Cluna was opposed to the concept of DCI and rallied against it ... St Rita's packed it in after the 73 season with a VERY good corps ... BS was a shell of itself by 1972 ... I saw them at a show in Rutgers and was stunned ... not sure when they packed it in that year ... Some members went over to the Polish Falcons and then BS formed a Sr corps in 75 ... that lasted one season ... They now have a thriving Alumni Corps ...

Edited by ajlisko
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1 hour ago, ajlisko said:

As far as I know, Carman Cluna was opposed to the concept of DCI and rallied against it ... St Rita's packed it in after the 73 season with a VERY good corps ... BS was a shell of itself by 1972 ... I saw them at a show in Rutgers and was stunned ... not sure when they packed it in that year ... Some members went over to the Polish Falcons and then BS formed a Sr corps in 75 ... that lasted one season ... They now have a thriving Alumni Corps ...

The Boston Crusaders were one of the original DCI corps.  They were struggling competitivly in 1972 and passed on the innugural championship.

SAM

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14 hours ago, sam said:

The Boston Crusaders were one of the original DCI corps.  They were struggling competitivly in 1972 and passed on the innugural championship.

SAM

I believe at some point their staff walked and then a fire destroyed their hall and equipment ... not sure of the details but they somehow made the field in 73 with a super small corps

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6 hours ago, ajlisko said:

I believe at some point their staff walked and then a fire destroyed their hall and equipment ... not sure of the details but they somehow made the field in 73 with a super small corps

It is a credit to them that they came back year after year, through thick and thin......it took until 1999 for them to become a finalist again, but they never gave up, and the organization and members showed great pride every year, and earned the respect and admiration of audiences as well. 

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On 12/4/2020 at 6:30 PM, ajlisko said:

 BS was a shell of itself by 1972 ... I saw them at a show in Rutgers and was stunned ... not sure when they packed it in that year ... 

Blessed Sacrament's last contests as a junior corps both came on September 4, 1972....one in Boonton, NJ and the other in Ridgefield Park, NJ.

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MAYBE (and I'm not sure it was an ego thing.

DCI starts up and we lose how many corps? I know St. Joe's of Batavia folded and probably because most of the members aged out (my guess). What about others?

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On 12/9/2020 at 7:46 AM, KeithHall said:

MAYBE (and I'm not sure it was an ego thing.

DCI starts up and we lose how many corps? I know St. Joe's of Batavia folded and probably because most of the members aged out (my guess). What about others?

My best guess is that it would be a "Money Thing"   Almost all of the pre DCI corps were "Mom & Pop" volenteer units.  As time wore on the cash flow dried up due to the crushing costs of touring and just maintaing the corps  (Uniforms, instruments, busses, equipment trucks, etc) and they closed their doors.

Also a decline in competitve success may have had an effect as recruiting fell off and the lack of memberships drove the units out of business.

SAM

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