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1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

1965 VFW - CHICAGO, IL

Major scores:

Junior prelims (54 corps competed):
1. Royal Airs 89.75
2. Cavaliers 87.97
3. Skokie Vanguard 86.45
4. Troopers 85.80
5. St. Josephs (NY) 85.50
6. Kilties 85.20
7. Boston Crusaders 84.9
8. Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights 84.78
9. Garfield Cadets 84.53
10. St. Kevin’s Emerald Knights 84.00
11. Norwood Park Imperials 83.42
12. Magnificent Yankees (NY) 83.40
Note: Madison was 14th, Black Knights were 22nd

Junior Finals: 15 corps - held indoors at McCormick Place due to severe rain
1. Royal Airs 89.2
2. Cavaliers 87.8
3. Kilties 84.2
4. Troopers 82.7
5. Skokie Vanguard 82.5
6. Boston Crusaders 81.5
7. Blessed Sacrament 81.45
8. St. Joseph’s Cadets 80.85
9. Garfield Cadets 79.75
10. Imperials 77.25
11. St. Kevin’s 77.10
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From David Borck:

The prelims were held at Hanson Park Stadium in Chicago, I believe. But, after the prelims were held it began to rain heavily. Soldier Field, the planned site for Finals, was flooded so the contest was held indoors at McCormick Place. A TERRIBLE place for a drum corps show .. the acoustics were horrid and the GE evaluations were from a very low vantage point in makeshift stands.

Being a local site, the corps members stayed at home that week. The corps took school busses to the contests.
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Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

Some of the 1965 music:

Semper Fidelis * Columbia the Gem of the Ocean * Night and Day * Whiffenpoof Song * The High And The Mighty

What did you do in the Corps? percussion

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

Best corps I marched in during my years of'63-'67. We got dumped at Nationals as payback for some of our guys insulting Don Angelica by shouting at him and calling him names from an Iperials' bus earlier in the season. We should have placed in the top 5 or at worst, the top 7. Just my opinion...

Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

Bob,

1965 and 1966 were the best for me. 1966 Nationals was similar to 1965--sometimes I think we got payback for incident in 1965 in 1966 as well. Should have been top 5 in 1965 and placed about the same in 1966. We'd been beating the Royal Airs and Vanguard consistently in 1966 and don't believe the Kilties beat us at all until nationals (same story with the Kilts in 1965).

John

Anyway

Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

Bob and John, I fully agree with you about the "payback" issue.

I saw many examples of Mr. Angelica exerting his influence over the years. I am sure that had a major part to play in 1965 and 1966 for us. (Don Angelica had MANY friends in the drum corps judging circles).

In fact, there was a significant payback after only one day in 1970 (or 71) after the Imperials narrowly beat the Santa Clara Vanguard at at Deerfield. The next day (at Streator?) the Imperials were absolutely BURIED by the (totally impartial) judges.

Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

Definitely 1970. No way Norwood comes close to Santa Clara in 1971. Many people didn't know who Santa Clara was in early 1970, but everybody knew the next year.

If it's any consolation to you, that loss haunted Gayle Royer for years after that. My Dad happened to be sitting next to him on a plane and mentioned he had been with Norwood - and he didn't get a good reaction!

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

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

Re: 1965 VFW NATIONALS - CHICAGO

received some new info about this contest .. so here is a revised post.

1965 VFW - CHICAGO, IL

Major scores:

Junior prelims (54 corps competed):
1. Royal Airs 89.75
2. Cavaliers 87.97
3. Skokie Vanguard 86.45
4. Troopers 85.80
5. St. Josephs (Batavia, NY) 85.50
6. Kilties 85.20
7. Boston Crusaders 84.9
8. Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights 84.78
9. Garfield Cadets 84.53
10. St. Kevin’s Emerald Knights (Boston) 84.00
11. Norwood Park Imperials 83.42
12. Magnificent Yankees (NY) 83.40
13. St. Mary’s Cardinals (Boston) 82.1
14. Madison Scouts 81.00
15. Bridgeport PAL Cadets 80.8
16. Vasella Musketeers (Philadelphia) 80.65
17. Racine Scouts 80.10
18. St. Paul Scouts 79.65

Note: Black Knights were 22nd

Junior Finals: 15 corps - held indoors at McCormick Place due to severe rain
1. Royal Airs 89.2
2. Cavaliers 87.8
3. Kilties 84.2
4. Troopers 82.7
5. Skokie Vanguard 82.5
6. Boston Crusaders 81.5
7. Blessed Sacrament 81.45
8. St. Joseph’s Cadets 80.85
9. Garfield Cadets 79.75
10. Imperials 77.25
11. St. Kevin’s 77.10
12. St. Mary’s Cardinals 74.45
13. Magnificent Yankees 70.85
14. Madison Scouts 69.70
15. PAL Cadets 68.50


The prelims were held at Hanson Park in Chicago. Due to heavy rain, the park field was used, not the stadium. The prelims were planned for 2 days, with 54 corps. But, after
the first day was completed, rain became more of a factor. The 2nd day of prelims was interrupted by rain several times, then the rain became a deluge with strong wind and thunderstorms. Several corps were caught in this, and prelims were delayed until an indoor site could be found. The remaining corps scheduled for prelims performed indoors at McCormick Place (this included the Imperials). The Troopers were allowed to re-do their earlier prelim performance indoors.

Soldier Field, the planned site for Finals (Wed., August 18), was flooded so the Finals contest was also held indoors at McCormick Place. This was really a TERRIBLE place for a drum corps show .. the acoustics were horrid and the GE evaluations were from a very low vantage point in makeshift stands.

Being a local site, the corps members stayed at home that week. The corps took school busses to the contests.