Norwood Park Imperials Alumni Forum
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Here is a thought about drum corps in years past .. they were focused on neighborhood youth activity. 
Yes, a place for local kids (started as inner city, but moved to other areas) to learn music, ethics, teamwork, make friends and stay out of trouble. 
The local VFW and AL posts always helped with these corps and did a lot of good in their communities.
Yes, the world has changed a lot. Many towns have a lot of organized youth activities in sports and music for the kids to join (if they can pay the fees). There are still many problems with gangs and drugs. Still seems there is a need for community drum corps.
OK, some people feel that DCI is great .. and that is OK for those people who can do that.
But, take a look at these websites for a great description of a COMMUNITY corps which made a great impression on their members and the drum corps world: St. Vincents's Cadets from Bayonne, NJ.
. www.osmondpostcadets.com/StVincent.htm
. www.dcw.com/articles
. OR just GOOGLE "St. Vincents Cadets"
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer
What years were you a Corps member? 1958 - 1963
BTW.. the IMPERIALS drum corps did a fine job as a community corps, helping local youth! 
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer
What years were you a Corps member? 1958 - 1963
Yep, St. Vincents and the Bridgemen ... and others like them ... are the greatest example of why local corps were (and some feel) still are needed.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer
What years were you a Corps member? 1958 - 1963
I don't know anything about the Bridgemen, but I DO know that most members of St. Vinnie's were from the very poor and tough areas of Bayonne, NJ. And, they needed a positive influence in their lives. As Rich Biver noted elsewhere, you didn't want to mess with them.
Here is something from the DCW report about that corps ..edited a bit to keep it shorter... this speaks to the NEIGHBORHOOD corps aspect.
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It should be noted that the spirit of the day was around the neighborhood, the parish and kids -- a point of view that (leader, Mickey) Petrone held throughout his long and dedicated career as a public school teacher and drum corps instructor.
The historical record of St. Vincent’s Cadets is well-documented in a number of sources, most notably in Rev. Gerald A. Marchand’s “All For One and One For All” book. Father “Bud” was a marching member of the corps in 1946 and experienced the joy and excitement of the corps’ first VFW national title.
Equally important -- and true for so many drum corps alumni of the era -- the drum corps experience shaped and inspired his life’s journey. In the preface to “All For One,” Father Bud begins by quoting a 1971 Drum Corps News article citing St. Vincent Cadets as “. . . the very greatest drum corps in our entire history.”
But he quickly moves on to quote Mickey Petrone: “. . . St Vincent’s was . . . a real parish corps -- a neighborhood corps . . . [that] every youngster in Bayonne wanted to join,” and Father Wojtycha: “The discipline and training . . . builds strong members of the community.”
St. Vincent Cadets embodied the pride in God and country inherent in the activity of military field music, but transformed in a unique way. It was a community of respected mentors and apprentices, friendships, brother- and sisterhood, togetherness, loyalty, competition and good, safe fun.
It was a place where ethics were taught, lived and breathed. And it was an outstanding medium for adults who carried a sense of responsibility toward youth to communicate with them, and for youth to communicate with and emulate the best of the adult world.
St. Vincent’s provided opportunity and prepared hundreds of young adults to successfully meet the challenges of life.
Perusing “All For One,” I found quotes and remembrances from corps members and affiliates from the 21-year period of its existence, through 1961. Is it the brilliant championship record that we find most frequently in those remarks? Hardly.
It is the bus rides, the practices in 100-degree heat in Texas, the inaugural parades in Washington, D.C. for Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy; Father Wojtycha teaching you to drive in his beat-up Plymouth; the day-old buns served in the corps room after practice; the converted vegetable truck that was transformed to become the corps truck; flag-raising ceremonies for “Gold Star Mothers”; and marching in Bayonne town parades to the cheers of the hometown crowd.
As drum corps innovators themselves, most St. Vincent’s Cadets acknowledge the positive advances in musicianship and professionalism that have found their way into the activity today.
On the other hand, the spirit of community in drum corps that took responsibility and created opportunities for neighborhood kids without means to learn to play, march and compete has in many ways disappeared.
Indeed, the world has changed, but not so much that the values and ethics inherent in the patriotism of military field music should not to be revered and imparted on generations to come.
Indeed, there is much more than nostalgia in the words of Father Wojtycha and his many protégés with regard to the role that St. Vincent’s Cadets played in building character and the example it set for the drum corps world.
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A key here is that these drum corps provided help to kids who needed it (and couldn't pay). And, they provided a vehicle for positive activity where it was badly needed. (Note: like everything in life, this didn't work 100% of the time!)
As John Anderson pointed out, this need can happen in a poor urban setting as well as a small town environment .. and everywhere in between. 
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer
What years were you a Corps member? 1958 - 1963
