With Dick the bus driver passing away, it made me think of all of the crazy antics on the bus.

Anybody remember the Great SmokeOut? Getting the cows to "stampede"? Bach moonin?

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

John, those stories sound interesting! Tell us more.

All I remember about bus trips is:
1. trying to sleep on long rides
2. card players in the back of the bus
3. telling the bus drivers to "go 90"!'
4. Getting back to Norwood Park (or "the Post") VERY late and
trying to wake up to get home.

I mostly remember being a first-year Imperial and having to ride the girls' bus.

And most of us from the 70s should remember Will, who drove for Davidsmeyer. A great old guy. He also drove for the Cavaliers, so I had him as a driver for a long time. He was great to kid around with.

And then there was the guy who drove us to New Orleans in 1973 - with the hair sticking out of his shirt collar (and it was buttoned up). SO gross...

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

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

The Great Smokeout started at an Oasis or rest stop when somebody got the idea that "everybody" should buy cigars. Those that bought the cigars got back on the bus and kept the windows closed. The idea was to fill the bus with smoke and not to be the first person to open a window. Guys were puffin' 2-3-4 cigars at a time. You almost could not see 3 seats in front. It was an awful lot of smoke. When the bus driver got on, he said he was not going to move until the windows were opened. There was a lot of coughing and teary eyes. When the windows were finally opened, it looked like the bus was on fire. If memory serves me correct, this was at a stop in Indiana.

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

The cow stampede is another Indiana (I think) story. We were returning home and the bus was just sitting in traffic going nowhere. A couple of sopranos in the back of the bus noticed some cows in a field. They pulled out their horns, opened a window and started screeching - probably just to see if they could get the cows to move. They did. A few more sop's joined in and pretty soon they got the cows to run. Wonder if they gave milk that week?

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

Still unanswered question: Did the bus driver beat his cat???????????????????????

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

John: Great! I had forgotten this age old question .....

Still unanswered question: Did the bus driver beat his cat???????????????????????

The "smoke out" story is hilarious. Glad I wasn't there!

OK - there's obviously at least one more story there...

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

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

OK Bob, you see a lot of sunshine in Florida. Ride behind the bus at the right time and you would see a lot of "moonshine"!

Dave - I only heard the story about going into Canada - Are you all US Citizens on this bus? Si Senor...

Don't know the details.

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

yes, going into Canada you have to go through the immigration/ customs checkpoint. Instead of having all the corps people get off the busses and go through the checkpoint individually, the officer would get on the bus and ask some "routine" questions. (the corps manager had all of our documents).

One question was "are you all US citizens"? To which one wise guy replied "Si, Senor". The officer was not amused and made us wait in the lot for a long time while he "checked our documents" more thoroughly.

John,

I was referring to the "beat his cat" story.

And the Canada story - in 1974 with Cavaliers someone did the exact same thing, with the same results! Those guys are serious. Can you imagine someone doing that today? The corps would probably not make any of the shows north of the border!

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

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

Bob, Some times you just had to be there - since this is a family oriented site...

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

That answer I can live with!

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

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

I recollect the long bus rides to New York area and a couple to Minnesota, Sarnia and Ohio when we left at night and arrive the next morning or afternoon. Remember waking up to the smell of stale smoke at sunrise and drinking a warm can of Coke because the water jug was empty. Also, remember stopping for breakfest on the PA turnpike and someone getting a large bottle of Scope and passing it around in a brown paper bag before we got on the bus. Looked like a bunch of winos sharing a bottle.

The Canada story I remember is when we went to Sarnia ONT for a contest in 1964 we stopped in Port Huron MI for breakfest. A few of the guys met a young woman at the resturant and she went over to Sarnia with us in the bus' bathroom. I don't remember her going back.

I also remember a trip to the Indy 500 parade in 1963. We left in the middle of the day. At some time after we got off the Indiana Toll Road and caught up with the buses of the Purdue University Marching Band. I remember as we passed on of the buses the Golden Girl and Silver Twins (Purdue's baton twilers) were sitting in the front of one of the buses on the side we passed. A lot of interesting comments from the guys on the bus. I recollect that the Purdue Band was in uniform which I though strange as we only wore are uniforms when we were on a short bus ride for a contest in Chicago.

I haven't seen the Purdue Band in a long time but remember the Golden Girl was always a blonde. Of course that was also at a time when all airline stewardesses where under 30 years old and weighed less than 120 lbs. For all I know now the Golden Girl is now the Golden Guy.

Didn't it storm the entire Indy Parade? Seem to remember that being the worst rain I ever marched in.

The nickname (real name?) for the girl smuggled to Sarnia was Juanita. I don't remember her coming back either. Speaking of Sarnia - wasn't that the place "Logs to America" occured? Don't remember who rolled those telephone pole logs into the harbor. Was Sarnia '64 or '65? Seem to remember we were the only corps to beat the Optimists in Canada in '65.

What did you do in the Corps? Drum

What years were you a Corps member? 60-69

John

I don't remember it raining hard during the 1963 Indy 500 parade. It rained before the parade started and might have spritzed a bit during the parade but I don't recollect a major downpour. Did the corps march in any other Indy 500 parades after I left the corps in 1966. 1963 was the only year we did the parade during my time in the corps.

I don't recollect the log rolling in Sarnia--just the girl smuggled across the border in 1964. 1964 was a exhibition. Still don't know why we went all the way to Sarnia for a exhibition. In 1965 we were a bit more serious as we'd changed the drill the week before. I recollect we won the 1965 contest and were the only corps (or first corps) to beat the Toronto Optimists in Canada that year.

I was never impressed with the Optimists. I recollect first competing against them in 1963 and everyone was saying how good they were. Think they came in sixth or seventh and don't believe they ever beat us during my years in the corps

John, the 1964 Sarnia trip was probably planned as an exhibition because the corps was in a rebuilding year. 1965 was a much stronger year.

The Toronto Optimists prime years were 1958-62. They were really good then. After that, they were slowly declining.