Grenadier eh Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Good-day folks, Some Kingston staff moved from Grennies in 1974 to Belleville Yardman in hopes of improving the corps in RCA. After that season, which was a tough one and discussions between the Late John Raymond and and the late Hugh Bondy it was decided the 2 organizattions amalgamate hence the Grenadier Yardmen. The Yardman name based on a successful lottery based in Belleville which was their sponsor as well. We took on a staff largely influenced by Cadets La Salle and operated for the next 2 years which a much larger corps than any of us could imagine from our area. The demise of the corps at that time (76) as I saw in years after was 2 fold. The relative lack of a successful showing in Hamilton that year although the corps was beginning to gel and John`s missed opportunity which was taking the corps to DCA`s which would of been a top ten finish. This was always a motivating factor when I took over as director in the early 80`s. By the mid 90`s both Dave Orser and I thought the time was right to move ahead. We competed in 95 and finished 12th ahead of Dynamic and began our journey to the top 10.We are proud of being in the top 10 for longest of any corps from Canada and the first to take a DCA Class A championship out of the US. As far as the Parade Of Drums John..............3 senior corps as you mentioned and 2 "Junior Corps" my wife tells me "The Ventures" and Peterborough Crescendo`s. Cheers Don John...........my wife just showed me the article from the newspaper! 3 Junior corps! Carleton Place Marching Saints 74.1 Smiths Falls Lamplighters 67.3 Crescendo`s 61.6 Grenadiers 70.0 Imperial Knights 67.35 The show was on September 18th/71......brrrrrrrrrrrrr lucky we didn`t forget the show and it didn`t snow!haha No mention of Lindsays score although they were there. Cheers Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 missed opportunity which was taking the corps to DCA`s which would of been a top ten finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 (edited) Sorry to hear the Big John is no longer with us. "missed opportunity which was taking the corps to DCA`s which would of been a top ten finish" It is interesting that you mentioned not going to DCA's as a mistake. In our first year in RCA (1972) we finished 5th and if: a) placing remained constant and B) we would have taken the 16 hour trip to Jersey City we would have made DCA. It was a hard decision to make NOT to go but I knew our corps would never be of DCA size, we could not afford the cost of instruction, nor could we afford the cost of travelling even further for DCA contests and of course the toll it would take on the membership. So we stayed RCA only and loved it, great contests, fun parties, and great people. I wonder if other corps were forced to make similar decisions? Thanks for the info on the 1971 show, if you come across anyother info that mention us please let me know Edited January 5, 2007 by John Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugleboy1048 Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 Sorry to hear the Big John is no longer with us. "missed opportunity which was taking the corps to DCA`s which would of been a top ten finish" It is interesting that you mentioned not going to DCA's as a mistake. In our first year in RCA (1972) we finished 5th and if: a) placing remained constant and B) we would have taken the 16 hour trip to Jersy City we would have made DCA. It was a hard decision to make NOT to go but I knew our corps would never be of DCA size, we could not afford the cost of instruction, nor could we afford the cost of travelling even further for DCA contests and of course the toll it would take on the membership. So we stayed RCA only and loved it, great contests, fun parties, and great people. I wonder if other corps were forced to make similar decisions? Thanks for the info on the 1971 show, if you come across anyother info that mention us please let me know :( i think a lot of smaller corps made the same painful decision...and RCA comps and parties were some of the best without someone trying to bash your brains out like at some DCA shows and parties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted January 2, 2007 Share Posted January 2, 2007 :( i think a lot of smaller corps made the same painful decision...and RCA comps and parties were some of the best without someone trying to bash your brains out like at some DCA shows and parties Most corps that made that choice did so for the right reasons. Too many times a corps would gobble up (merge) with others with the eventual loss of all corps in the area. Bigger might have ment better in terms of performance etc but at what cost. I am astounded to hear that corps now a days have tryouts for positions. We taught from the ground up, had local writters and instructors yet I truely believe entertained our audiences, look at all the Corps that have gone under just trying to be in the elite. What a loss to a great hobby. The only Corps members to ever hassel us at a party were Pheonix members, maybe they were getting ready for the big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 When Steve Vickers was putting together the first History of Drum Corps volume a couple of years ago I wrote a piece on the Red Carpet Association that I don't believe was ever published. Contributors to my research included Jeff Ream, Jeff Davis and Ron Allard. I also have a spreadsheet with all scores from the RCA shows. Roger: Would it be possible to get a copy of the spread sheet mentioned? I am trying to do the competitive history of the Imperial Knights RCA 1972 through to 1976. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Roger lurks,............last I heard he found some long lost 78 recaps, and he was reworking the spreadsheet,............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 that needs to go up on an RCA website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melligene Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 FYI: 1978 RCA is on corpsreps.com today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Scott Posted January 14, 2007 Share Posted January 14, 2007 that needs to go up on an RCA website I am trying to post RCA information at this site http://www.drumcorpswiki.com/RCA Also would be great if Ron put his history of the Red Carpet Assoc. there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.