1957 VFW - MIAMI, FL
IMPERIALS - NATIONALS, TRIPS

Major scores:
Junior prelims (11 corps competed):
1. Cavaliers 92.70
2. Belleville Black Knights 92.50
3. St. Vincent’s 92.30
4. Imperials 91.85
5. Madison Scouts 91.45
6. Blessed Sacrament 91.40
7. Audubon All Girl 90.50

Junior Finals (7 corps):
1. Cavaliers 93.20
2. St. Vincent’s 92.50
3. Belleville Black Knights 92.00
4. Blessed Sacrament 91.80
5. Madison Scouts 90.45
6. Imperials 90.40
7. Audubon 90.15
----------------------------------------------------------

From Rich Biver:
I remember my 1st Nationals, went to Miami in 57', when we arrived at our hotel on Collins Ave. and got off the bus it was like walking into a furnace, it was so humid that day you could cut it with a knife.

And of course at the contest, that was when the "Fight Fest" (Cavaliers and St. Vincent’s) started after the scores were read. I can still picture it after all these years.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More from Rich Biver:

Norwood took 6th in the finals, 4th in the prelims, we beat Blessed Sac and Madison in the prelims. Cavaliers beat St. Vincents by less than a point and us by just over 3 points in the finals. When I think of it now really wasn't that bad and they only had 7 Corps in the finals that year.

I didn't march in either the finals or the prelims in that contest because I was a substitute that year or part of it anyway. Norwood had a few that year and once I was in the starting line-up, I'm not sure if we ever had them again, after that year.

One of the things I do remember is that the weather that evening during the contest was rainy, on and off during the day as well. That’s why they decided not to have a Grand Finale, just had the Drum Majors line-up
front and center. Than of course after the scores were read, the "Fight Fest" began. I headed for our bus when it started and our management was trying to the same with everyone else. I'm not sure who stayed
to join in or those who tried to stop it.

I know St. Vinnies intent was to take no prisoners. They were not only a great Corps on the field, but they also knew how to stand up to anyone. You didn't want to get on their bad side.

What actually started the fight began way before the season started or the very beginning of the season and I think is was just a matter of some things being said back and forth between the Cavaliers and St. Vinnies and it created this dislike for each other. I wasn't really aware of what was going on between the two in the beginning until after I heard it from someone else.

One nice experience I had there was being in the parade which was held in the evening and it rained at that time too, just a brief shower, but talk about humidity. I think that was when I really learned what humidity meant, during that week in Miami.

Everyone should get a good laugh at this, anytime we planned on going to one or both National's we had to hand in money before we left on the trip to cover our meals every day we were gone. For that trip to Miami we had to come up with $21.00 for that week. They would hand us $3.00 each day to cover our meals. But of course you had extra money besides that. How
times have changed.

I also can remember a couple of people being stung by jellyfish when they went swimming in the ocean one day, That's when I decided to stay out and go in the hotel pool that they had. Back then most of the pools were salt water but there was one hotel down the beach from ours that had a fresh water pool that we would sneak into at night and swim until we were
caught, but than we would try it again a day or two later.

I have to say it was a nice experience over all, especially it being my first real trip away from home and going to Miami at my age. I'm sure everyone can relate to that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is some info about the 1957 corps music from www.corpsreps.com....

1957 Finiculi Finicula * Moon Over Miami * Moonlight and Roses * I Hear a Rhapsody (from Clash By Night) * Tenderly * Jalousie * My Buddy (from I'll See You In My Dreams)
------------------------------------------------------------------

What did you do in the Corps? percussion

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Here is more on the fight as seen by a Cavalier member:

The 1957 VFW Finals show was held at Flamingo Park and it rained on and off all evening. It rained on our show as well and we were forced to restart. In spite of this disruption, we had a super show with Drum Major Bruce Teitgen taking us off the line with "Call of the Road", a stirring flag presentation of "Johnny Comes Marching Home" with Scotty Wild as guard sergeant and Don Mien as soloist, then "Caine Mutiny", "The March Triumphal" from Aidia, "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" and of course "Rainbow".

After the show the junior participants just milled around while the VFW tried to get the Senior show launched in between frequent rain delays. One of those rainy periods ruined the Reilly Raiders cowhide drums heads. They came over to us and asked if they could use our plastic head drums for their show. Of course we obliged. Reilly was very grateful, just how grateful they were we would learn a little later in the evening.

Reilly went on to win the senior title show using our drums. Both corps used the green/black/white uniform color combination so from that time on they looked on us as "their" junior corps look alike. Because of the rain delays, there was no Finale, only the Drum Majors went out for the trophy ceremony. After we were announced as CHAMPS we celebrated our first ever National title and the first by a Midwestern drum corps.

At that point many of our guys were scattered all over Flamingo Park with a big contingent hanging out and whopping it up by the buses. A number of guys from other Midwest Corps like Norwood and the Madison Scouts had drifted into our area to shoot the breeze and kill time waiting to pull out.

Suddenly Corps Equipment Manager and Don Warren's right hand man, Jim Jones came over in a rush and started telling the younger guys to get on the bus that there may be some trouble. The Star Spangled Banner was played to signal the end of the drum corps show. What we didn't know was that the playing of the Star Spangled Banner was also the prearranged signal for the guys from Vinnies to attack the Cavaliers.

Some of our guys first saw the guys from Vinnies walking across the contest field from a distance coming toward us. The late Art Kurth, the number one guy who had made nice-nice with Vinnies upon our arrival in Miami saw them walking over and thought they were going to congratulate us. Art walked up to them to say "Hi" and got a big fist right in the face and the fight was on.

Attorneys will tell you that the worst witness is an eye witness, but here is what is recollected by Art and some other Cavaliers who were there that night. Most of us were holding our own fighting back-to-back with another Cavalier, or in some cases we were back-to-back with a guy from Norwood or the Madison Scouts who also got caught up in the battle. Some guys used their white belts with the big chrome buckle at the end as a pretty effective weapon others used drum slings, sabers, guidons, flag poles or just good old fists as weapons, whatever worked. Dave Burkhart used his bass drum sticks for example.

Some of the other younger kids had been shagged unto the buses by Jim Jones. One of the kids was inside making goo-goo faces at one of the Vinnies thugs outside the bus. The guy from Vinnies looks up and puts a flag pole right through the glass window. So much for making goo-goo faces at the bad guys.

Art Kurth was fighting back-to-back with John Cabanski when he glances over to see a bunch of guys in red shirts coming. "Wow", Art thinks, "these must be security ushers or something coming to stop the fight", great, help is on the way. No such luck. The guys in red shirts were Vinnies alumni who were marching with the Archer-Epler Musketeers (Archie) and came over to join in the bashing of the Chicago Cavaliers. Now the odds were getting really long.

Just as the guys from Archie were getting comfortable beating on us here comes another bunch of guys, these guys are in green shirts. It's the Reilly Raiders!! Yes, they paid us back for letting us use their drums by beating up on the guys from Archie, who they loathed as bush league drum corps anyway. You see these senior corps guys were made up of World War II and Korea veterans to whom a bar fight was just their normal form of post-contest recreation, so they partied on!

Art sees a police car pull up and thinks, "well, this has got to be the end", wrong again, the first cop gets out of the squad and is immediately hit in the head with a flag pole swung by a guy from Archie, WHAM! down the cop goes, out like a light and the fight goes on.

A myriad assortment of Corps managers and quartermasters, police, VFW security and miscellaneous others ultimately intervened to stop the fight a few minutes later. 13 people went to the hospital, none seriously injured, not that Vinnies and Archie didn't try however.

The aftermath was that St. Vincent's was banned from the VFW Nationals for 3 years. They didn't show up until 1961. They went out of business for good in 1962. Later in that same month a fight broke out during the finale at the 1957 American Legion National Championship in Atlantic City. It was just a year for knuckles, I guess.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

A great story, but you can't beat hearing Art Kurth describe it live on the "When Drum Corps Was Really Drum Corps" video series!

And as late as 1974, one of the first things new guys were taught was how to wrap that belt around your hand and hook it so the buckle was on top.

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 St. Vincent Cadets were a tough bunch, from a very tough neighborhood in Bayonne, NJ. They weren't of of fighting! But, there was a LOT of controversy about the Cavaliers win that night. This was due to a challenged penalty for undertime on the field. The Cavaliers management (Don Warren!!) successfully removed that penalty. Not at all sure how he did that. :)

But, the St. Vinnie's Cadets didn't like that at all!

And, for whatever reason, the fight began.

--------------------------------------------------------------

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

BTW .. have you noticed the SCORES from this contest and how well the IMPERIALS did? Within one or two points from the top in both prelims and finals. Even besting the BS Golden Knights!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63