I try Google it with no luck
My younger brother march with a parade corp.
The Colonels
There is no trace of the corp on the web.
It is like they never were.

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Jeff, that is very strange. That corps was the Franklin Park Colonels and they were around for a number of years.

Speaking of "losing corps", I looked at www.CorpsRes.com to look for the Colonels. They maintain a list of drum corps. It is very sad to see .. they list 1261 junior corps and 677 senior corps!!! BUT, MOST of them are gone now.

Rich Tessitorre and I ended up teaching the Colonels in the '70's. They were starting to come around and ran into the usual woes - money and the better members wanting to march with an A corps. They had some great parents (just not enough were involved). Ed Biondo and his wife, Ed Elliot, and Tony Pierro (spelling?) family that were really dedicated. I was sorry to see the corps fold.

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 61-69

John, actually, the Colonels were a fairly good mid class corps... above a "B" class corps...but not exactly ready to be an A class corps.
Sad to see them go ... just like the other 1200 corps listed!

Didn't Bobbo and Steve (tenor drummers in 1973) come from there?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arrnager

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Bob, you are correct for $200. Bobbo and Steve did come from the Colonels.

Dave - the Colonels did have their ups and downs. When Rich and I started with them, they had fallen to B/C class. Many very young kids (majority in grade school or early high school) - some of the older ones - Bob, Steve, Pete.. etc. had gone to Norwood a few years earlier. When they folded, I think quite a few went to the Vaqueros (Elmhurst not Aurora for us old timers).

What did you do in the Corps? drum

What years were you a Corps member? 61-69

The Vaqueros became a strong competitor of Norwood in the late 70s - I think they merged with someone and became the Firemen?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Vaqueros may have merged - but I don't think it was to become the Firemen - too far away from Elmhurst and the two brothers whose names escape me. If I remember, the Firemen were Buffalo Grove - they asked me to teach drums. I visited for a practice and declined - at my visit it was a very, very small and young corps.

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 61-69

John, you are right .. the Firemen were from Arlington Heights. They were a small group with VERY young members. I saw them at a few local events. They had a good drum line for their age. Small horn line. The corps didn't last very long. :(

I am pretty sure the 2 corps did merge and were called the Vaquero-Firemen. The hornline dressed in Vaquero uniforms and the drumline dressed in the Firemen uniforms.

What did you do in the Corps? drums & horns

What years were you a Corps member? 1978-1981

Judy and Bob are both right. In 1979 the Vaqueros and Firemen marched as a single unit, though in fact it was meant to be a one year joint venture and not a long time merger. It was similiar to our agreement with the Scarlet Knights. I am not sure about the uniforms Judy, but I think your right about the name. It seems to me if my, memory serves me right, that the Firemen were from neither Buffalo Grove or Arlington Heights, rather they were located in Elk Grove. Bob is right about the competition between the Vaqueros and the Imperials. Starting in 1976, I used the Vaqueros as a criteria for the progress of the Imperials and by 1979 we were beating them consistently and I switched the criteria to the Knights. The name of the two brothers was Courtney. Joe was the manager, but his brothers name escapes me. A younger brother marched with the Vaqueros in the late 70,s.

Bob and Judy, I don,t know if you remember how at Calumet Park, after we beat the Vaqueros, that they left the field without passing us as was the norm. I later received a letter,from John Mayer of the Firemen, apologizing for the pure sportsmanship that had been displayed,ensuring me that they were upset by the whole incident, and in no way condoned it. I have always thought that it may have contributed to any continuation of their agreement.













Grove

Jim,

First of all, good to see you back - hope you're feeling well.

And I do remember them not passing us that day! I think it was the end of the season.

And Judy might be right about two different uniforms. That would have been a strange combination.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arrnager

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Franklin Park Colonels

I can’t let a drum corp. be forgotten
I made a facebook group for them
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http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118414393303&ref=nf