Today I had to visit a local locksmith in town. Leo is 82 years old and has been a fixture around town for something like 50 years. He was the projectionist at the local movie house. When they closed the theater, Leo took some of the space at the rear and set up his business. He's been there ever since, and his place shows it.

I noticed a photo laying on an old desk in his shop. It looked like a school band photo, and it had Leo's and his brother's names to identify where they were in the photo. The bass drums were marked "Sons of the VFW" and the photo was dated in 1938. I knew, of course, that this was no band.

Leo is a comical fellow, so I teasingly asked him what he played "in the band." He grabbed the photo, raised his voice and proclaimed "That was a Drum Corps, and we were State Champions! Don't you young people know anything?" I chuckled a little as he explained that he and his brother marched in the Corps from his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota and they competed in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. He said "We marched military formations on a football field in competition."

Than I laid it on him that I, too, was in a Drum Corps, just about 25 years later than him (which is also the difference in our ages - which seems to make sense) and how I was never fortunate enough to claim a State Championship. And on it went, just like we've known each other all along, and I had to leave much too early.

Now I've got to take some of these old photos that Dave sent and show him my old friends. Then I'll find out if he's ever heard of the Cavaliers, Sac, or the Garfield Cadets. I'll bet he knows about the Yankee Rebels. I hesitate to mention what's happened to Drum Corps. I fear he'll yell about how little those DCI people know about real Drum Corps.

Even for those that never marched together, Drum Corps seems to create a commaraderie that cannot be matched.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965 drumline