Have a great holiday .... remember all the Labor Day activities (parades and contests) we "endured" while in the corps!

Yes, in "pre-DCI" days, drum corps actually continued into September!

Those were the days!!!!!!!

What did you do in the Corps? bass drummer

What years were you a Corps member? '57-'62

That generally signalled the official end of the season, although there would be parades during the "off season" - Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, etc. But in those days, it wasn't the big good-bye that it is today, because you would continue to see everyone in the corps at school, in the neighborhood, etc. And practices generally started again a couple of weeks later for the next season!

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

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

Ah yes, the "pre-DCI" days. When we had community drum corps, with LOCAL members, not people from all over the country.

During my years in Norwood labor day wasn't the last contest. We'd usually compete in Rockford or maybe Janesville WS on labor day. The last show would be in Maywood about a week later. That's when the black plumes would be worn by those aging out.

I also recollect that American Legion Nationals tended to occur after labor day. I only recollect the corps attending that once and that was in 1961 just prior to my moving up to the Imperials.

Yes, AL Nationals was often later - Dad was in the local AL Band, and I remember several times that his trips were after school had started. And that's why many corps often didn't attend that contest, and VFW became the larger of the two shows.

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

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