Things like this bug me (I know - I need to stop reading the Jodeen Popp drum corps book in the bathr...I mean reading room).

What happened from 65 to 66 with the Royal Airs? From winning everything one year to middle of the pack the next - in particular, their drum line. They won the caption in 65, then were three full points down from the top in 66. It got me to thinking about the small sizes of corps in those days, and I guess maybe just the right four or five people aging out could cost dearly the next year. But you would think the defending National Champion could have recruited to fill the ranks.

Or was 1965 just their "magic year", followed by a return to normal stature (like 1972 Anaheim, 1964 Kilties, etc.)?

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

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

Just happened to open this and saw Bob's posting.

This is just a brief snapshot from an aging memory. I had several friends that were '65 RA members.

St. Michael's Chi-Angels had merged with Morton Grove Cougars in 1963 or 64. In 1965 most of their members went to RA. Some came to Norwood including my dear friend Bill Kalady. RA also had members from several other corps join that year.

The following year, they were impacted by the Viet Nam draft and age outs from their start in 1958. If the typical age in 1958 was 14, then those members would have turned 21. The US sent about 125,000 troops to Viet Nam by then end of 1965. The Viet Nam draft took a great toll on drum corps in general in the late sixties.

What did you do in the Corps? Soprano

What years were you a Corps member? 1959-1968

Yes:

1. Corps go in cycles at times. The RA did lose a lot of older members after 1965.
2. The draft hurt them a lot. Other corps too.

Bob Shreffler wrote about the 1965 RA:

"But you would think the defending National Champion could have recruited to fill the ranks."
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A good point. BUT, "recruiting" wasn't really done then, although the Cavaliers were good at it.

Tom has it correct. My recollection is that the Royal Airs were impacted by the draft and age outs in 1966. Age outs were probably a bigger factor as a lot of those kids in 1965 were 20 years old.

I don't recollect Norwood being impacted by the draft most likely because our members were a bit younger (juniors and seniors in high school) and those who had started college had student deferments.

I have always have thought that Truman Crawford and the other Royal Airs instructors did a tremendous job in 1966 and the kids were dedicated as well. Up until the end of July in 1966 the Royal Airs were usually placing behind Norwood and the Vanguard in contests.

They worked hard and changed some things to place high at nationals. One noticable thing was rewriting their concert--What Kind of Fool Goes to Paris in April--so that it is primarily a sopranos solo. If one listens to the Illionis Top 4 recording from 1966 and then VFW Nationals one will pick up on this.

In a sense what the Royal Airs went through in 1966 was what Norwood experienced in 1964 season after we lost a lot of members to age out. Both corps managed to stay competitive but it was a challenge.

Recruiting wasn't a big deal in the mid-1960s. The new members from other corps usually came after a corps disbanded (Spartans as Tom mentioned) or the older kids from the smaller suburban corps like McHenry, St Alexis, etc. Also, as the corps were community based one didn't see a lot of movement between the Cavaliers, Royal Airs, Norwood and Vanguard. There were kids who changed corps (we had one or two who moved to the Cavaliers and Royal Airs) but when it happened, it was likely a big deal for the kid as he or she were leaving their friends.

Personnally, I thought of moving to another corps (after 1963) but at the time I had too many friends in Norwood. Today if I had the talent, I'd probably make the move but then today is different.

Hi everyone,
I know its been awhile since I posted anything,its
nice to be on again.
One thing I would like to mention about the Royal
Airs is the Reunion Corps they put together
espescially the 1st year or two was the best out of
the other Corps that did it.I watched probably all
of them that tried it,including the Cavaliers on
the Royal Airs web-site,they have You-Tube set up
with the Cavaliers on it,it was okay,not what I
would expect from them.
The Royal-Airs knew how to do it,and they really
did.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

It is a little known fact that the RARC got off the ground because a Norwood Alum (yours truly) pitched them on the idea of letting alums fom other competing corps march with them if the didn't get enough alums
from the RA. I was at the early meetings when I suggested this and the idea took off. By the time we finished the inaugral 2002 season, there were 19 or 20 corps represented, I think. I am very proud of this!!

What did you do in the Corps? Tenor drum, snare drum

What years were you a Corps member? 1963-1967

Bob, you are a hero to midwest corps alumni because of that.

Not only have many area alums had the opportunity to march with the RARC, but this has helped start the "area alumni corps" activity here. Like the upcoming picnic and the monthly meetings. All are good.

I hope to see MORE Imperials alumni joining in these.

I saw the kind words that Tom Walter had for my ex-husband, Bill (Barge) Kalady. I wasn't sure if you knew, but Bill passed away in 2009 from diabetes and heart failure. We were divorced in 1987 and I hadn't spoken to him in 20 years, but I'm still very close to his niece.
Bill really loved drum corps. We used to laugh because he loved it enough to actually march in junior corps for 20 years!
I still remember when one of the judges (I think it was Rick Maass) at an inspection in 1970, 1971, or 1972 came upon some of our "older" members in the lineup. The judge started choking when he came to the first over-age member. Then he worked his way down the line and came face-to-face with Bill. The judge was almost apoplectic when he turned to our drum major and said, "When are you going to retire some of these old guys--WHEN THEY NEED A CANE!"
Of course, Bill never even cracked a smile. Hey, it was an inspection!

Before I joined the Imperials I spent the winter of 1969-1970 with the Royal Airs trying to restart the corps. I never got the privilege of marching with them, though. They never did start back up. If I lived in Chicago now I'd be marching with them. I've waited 41 years for it!

What did you do in the Corps? Color Guard

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-1972