| The History of the Racine Kilties Jr. Drum & Bugle Corps By George Fennell Copyright 2002 This is the original version of the history of the Kilties, Jr., drum and bugle corps that I submitted to Drum Corps World magazine for publication in their second book, "History of Drum Corps, Vol. #2". Unfortunately, the version that appeared in this book was condensed due to space limitations. For a more in depth look at how the Kilties were started, please go to this web page. It covers the years from 1934 through 1936 in more detail than this overview does. The possibility of forming a "Y" drum and bugle corps was discussed as early as the summer of 1934. Legend has it that the founders were sitting around a campfire at Camp Anokijig, the YMCA’s summer camp for boys, deciding what uniform the boys would wear and “Scotty” McCreadie said definitively, “Let’s put ‘em in kilts!“ And so it was. In October of 1934, as the outgrowth of a parent-counselor discussion at the YMCA's Camp Anokijig in Plymouth, WI, a rookie night was held. 28 boys showed up at this first rookie night and they formed the nucleus of the new corps. It was decided that this was enough interest to start a drum, bugle and bagpipe corps and so the Racine YMCA Kilties were born. Due to an initial lack of interest among the boys, bagpipes were dropped from the corps plans. When the corps first was talked of the mothers and fathers of the boys volunteered their services, each forming a group co-operating to the end that instruments and uniforms might be provided. Various activities to raise funds were conducted by both the mothers and fathers clubs. The corps was made up entirely of boys from the YMCA ranging in age from 8 to 14 years. At first the Kilties were loaned drums and bugles from Racine’s defunct Washington Junior High School drum and bugle corps. Formed in 1927, the Washington Junior High School drum and bugle corps, called "The Pioneers," was Racine's first junior corps as the Boy Scouts of Troop 15 of the Church of Atonement (Racine Scouts) didn't begin their drum and bugle corps until Nov. 14, 1928. The Kilties were instructed by Al Asplund, drums; Chester Nelson, Bugles; James (Scotty) McCradie was the drillmaster; and Fred Schulte was the corps' director. All had years of training and experience as members of the American Legion Post 76 drum and bugle corps. The boys and parents supplied their own white shirt and tam and the Kiwanis Club donated the funds out of their treasury to complete the uniforms. As a mark of appreciation on the part of the mothers and dads of the boys, it was decided to name the group "The Kiwanis Kilties." On the bass drums were painted the emblem of both the Kiwanis club and that of the YMCA. The uniforms were made by a local dressmaker who was assisted in the taking of measurements and other tasks by the mothers. The uniform consisted of a white shirt, an imported sporran and tam, and a tie, tartan and kilt of Royal Stewart plaid, a royal blue and black plaid interwoven on a field of striking red. Dress rehearsal in preparation for the Kilties first public appearance in the July Fourth parade in Racine was held on Thursday, July 2, 1936. Led by Harold Kahlert, drum major, the Kiwanis Kilties made their debut in Racine’s 1936 Fourth of July parade and won best appearing drum and bugle corps. Seventy-two boys were trained at this point, but not all participated in the Kilties’ activities and were uniformed at this time. For the Kilties first public appearance in Racine's Fourth of July Parade in 1936 they appeared with 48 boys. Next up for the Kiwanis Kilties was their first performance at a drum and bugle corps show. At 7:30 pm on August 5, 1936 the Kilties performed in exhibition to open the drum and bugle corps portion of Racine's fifth annual music festival sponsored by the Racine Journal-Times Newspaper at Horlick Athletic field. This is how the Journal-Times described the Kilties’ exhibition performance in the newspaper the next day: "Promptly at 7:30, the 262,000 watt battery of floodlights was turned on, and after a brief introduction by Dr. Walter D. Gearen, who is in charge of the drum corps portion of the program, the Kiwanis Kilties of the Y.M.C. A. swung onto the field, their highland plaids adding to the brilliant color of the setting. It was their first appearance at a music festival, and they drew hearty applause as they drilled briefly in front of the green- banked stage that faced the grandstand. " Other appearances during this time included the Kiwanis Kilties first appearance at a Wisconsin Department of the American Legion's annual state convention on Monday, August 9, 1937. Sponsored by Racine’s American Legion Post No. 76, the Kilties marched in the Racine section of the 19th annual Wisconsin Department of the American Legion 's state convention parade in Milwaukee along with the Racine Boy Scout drum and bugle corps and Racine's American Legion Post '76 drum and bugle corps. The Kiwanis Kilties’ first competitive appearance was Saturday, August 21, 1937, at the Chicagoland Music Festival. The drum and bugle corps contest was held at the 131st Infantry Armory at 16th Street and Michigan Ave. in Chicago during the day. The Kilties competed in the Juvenile Division, which was for drum and bugle corps with no members over the age of 16. The Kilties did not place in the top three, however, they were given commendation and encouragement by the judges. In 1939 it was necessary to replace the original bugles, and twenty-four bugles were purchased. The most interesting appearance in 1939 for the Kilties was as part of the escort for the crown prince and princess of Norway on the occasion of their visit to Heg Memorial Park in western Racine County. The Kiwanis Kilties made their first appearance at a Wisconsin Department of the VFW annual encampment on Saturday afternoon, June 25, 1939. The eighteenth annual encampment of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars was a 4-day event held in Racine from June 22 thru June 26, 1939. The 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon parade, which included the Kiwanis Kilties drum and bugle corps, attracted a crowd estimated from 40,000 to 50,000. In October, 1939, the corps changed its name to the Y.M.C.A. Kilties Drum and Bugle Corps. On Monday, 9-15-41, all members of the YMCA Kiltie drum and bugle corps went to Milwaukee to witness the finals in the national American Legion convention’s drum and bugle corps competition at Marquette University Stadium. The Kilties then made their first appearance at a national American Legion convention on Tuesday, 9-16- 41, when they marched in the Wisconsin division of the American Legion parade in Milwaukee. The Kilties didn’t travel much during World War II but, in the fall of 1941, played during half-time for their first time at a Green Bay Packers football game up in Green Bay. The Kilties would continue to occasionally perform during half-time at Green Bay Packers games both in Milwaukee and in Green Bay. Also during this era the Kilties performed at the Racine Belles women’s professional baseball games played at Horlick Field. The movie “A League Of Their Own” was a story about two sisters playing in the women’s professional baseball league on the Racine Belles baseball team. The first annual banquet of The Kilties Drum & Bugle Corps was held in November of 1942. In 1943 the Kiltie Father’s Club voted to affiliate with the Kiltie Mother’s Club and the parents worked harmoniously for the corps together as the Kiltie Parents Club. A crowd of about 5,000 persons gathered at Kenosha’s Lake Front Stadium Sunday night, 8-13-44, to watch the sixth annual Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsored Round-Up. Gen. George Bell Jr. Post 450, Chicago, won first place in the drum and bugle corps event. Second place was won by the Racine Boy Scouts and third place by the Racine Kilties. This was the highest placement that the Kilties had earned so far in a drum and bugle corps contest. Former Kilties who had died in the service during World War II were Don Foreman, Alan Judd and Richard Kuchenbach. Needing new uniforms for the 1949 season the Kiltie Parents’ Club made an intensive study of the numerous plaids, and having come to a careful decision, decided upon the McLeod tartan for their new uniforms. Its yellow background, in combination with black plaid and a narrow red stripe interwoven throughout the tartan, creates a plaid that sets it apart from most of the less spectacular tartans. The plaid is gay and bright. Several Kiltie mothers worked many days and nights making the new McLeod plaid kilts and plaids, or tartans, that are worn over the shoulder and diagonally across the breast and back. The green battle jacket, new in 1948, still was worn with the new McLeod plaid uniforms. For 1949 the Kilties now had 55 boys in the corps who ranged in age from the minimum required age of 10, to 18, with the average age being 13 years old. This was almost twice the size of the 1948 corps. The Kilties held a "dress rehearsal" in their new uniforms on May 25, 1949, at the YMCA which was open to parents and friends. The first appearance in the new uniforms was at the Milwaukee Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 31, 1949. Dressed in their fine new uniforms and in ever finer spirits, the Kilties experienced their finest season so far in 1949. The up and coming Kilties were now a corps that had “arrived” so to speak. By virtue of the Kilties winning prelims and their third place finish in finals at the prestigious Spectacle of Music in South Milwaukee, after having placed 13th out of 14 corps there in prelims in 1948, everyone in Racine was anticipating the first meeting of the 1949 season between the Kilties and the Racine Boy Scouts. Sparked by a published letter to the editor of the Racine Journal Times newspaper which praised the fine job that the Kilties did at the Spectacle of Music at South Milwaukee, fans of both Racine corps then sent in many letters to the editor of the Racine Journal Times newspaper which were published that argued about who the better corps was. This, in my opinion, was the start of the great rivalry between these two Racine corps as prior to this season the Kilties had never been a threat to the Boys Scouts competitively. The two Racine corps finally met at the American Legion State Championship in Milwaukee on Friday, 8-12- 49. The Racine Boy Scouts, having much older and experienced members, won the sponsored competition at the 1949 American Legion State Championship with the Kilties taking second. The Racine Boy Scouts had 88.90, while the Kilties scored 87.10. Two days later at Elkhorn, WI, the two corps met again with the Racine Boy Scouts taking first place with a score of 93.1 while the Kilties were second with 92.2. This settled the argument for 1949 but the rivalry between these two corps continued on for decades. In the fall of 1949 the Kilties performed between the halves of the Marquette - Colorado football game with the Kilties’ performance televised. Up to this point the Kilties had not been a very competitive corps but 1949 was a different story as they placed second 4 times and third once in the five competitions that they entered for 1949. This successful season resulted in many new rookies joining the corps and practically all the regulars returned for 1950. In the Spring of 1950 the Kiltie Parents Club undertook one of the greatest projects in the history of the Corps. The first annual Kiltie Kapers, a 12 act variety show, was presented April 20th at 8 P.M. at the Danish Brotherhood Hall in Racine. The Kiltie Kapers was very successful and, as a result, continued to be a major annual fund raising event put on by the Kilties Parents Club for the next 25 years. On Sunday, 06-25-50, the YMCA Kilties won second place in open drum corps competition at the third annual Cedarburg Festival of Music, but brought home both the first and second place trophies. After winning the second place award in competition, the Kilties lined up with the first place Gladstone Drum and Bugle Corps of Chicago, and the Milwaukee American Legion Cudworth Post SAL, third place winners, for a final review Sunday night. During the review, the Gladstone Corps, interrupted its scheduled numbers and broke into "I Love You Truly" and its leader presented W. J. Bezucha, Kiltie drillmaster, and Fred Hodges, drum major, with the first place trophy because "the Kilties had made such a fine rating in competition with more experienced corps." Twelve drum and bugle corps competed. On Saturday, 8-19-50, in "coffee drinking weather," with temperatures in the fifties, the Kilties won their first drum and bugle corps contest in their history at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, WI. With eight drum corps competing, the Kilties took first, the Racine Boy Scouts second and Milwaukee’s Cudworth Post SAL, third. 1951 saw the realization of a dream when a new equipment truck was provided by the Y.M.C.A. Board to facilitate the transporting of the Kilties’ uniforms, instruments and other equipment. In 1951 the Kilties replaced their green uniform jackets with new red ones. The new red jackets were worn for the first time at the Centennial International YMCA Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, from June 21- 24. During the convention the Kilties gave several concerts. 1951 also saw the Kilties rise to prominence continue when they won their first VFW State Championship on Saturday, 06-30-51 in Manitowoc, WI. The Racine Boy Scouts were second. In April of 1952 the Kilties and its Parents Club moved into their new quarters on the second floor of the Y.M. C.A. Annex. It provided a large equipment and uniform room, a dining room and an ultra-modern kitchen, as well as a large hall for music practice and the Parents Club meetings and social gatherings. 1952 saw Emil Pavlick become the Kilties music arranger and bugle instructor. Emil Pavlick would continue in this capacity with the Kilties for the next sixteen years, retiring after the 1968 season. Also, the Kilties purchased four French horn bugles needed to fill in the gap in the bugle section. The Kilties again won the VFW State Championship held this year in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, on Saturday, 06- 28-52. On Friday, 07-25-52, the Kilties were featured on a special television program which aired over Milwaukee TV Channel 3, as an advance for the South Milwaukee Spectacle of Music on Saturday. The Kilties performed their drill and the program demonstrated how judges determine the scoring in drum and bugle corps competition. 1952 also saw the Kilties’ Color Guard appearing on the cover of the March issue of the Midwest Corps News magazine and the Kilties’ 1951 Drum Major, Alfred Hodges, appear on the cover of South Milwaukee’s 1952 Spectacle of Music program. A full corps photo of the Kilties appeared on the cover of the July, 1953 issue of the Midwest Corps News magazine along with an article about the corps. In 1953 the Kilties were ready to enter national competition for the first time. It was largely due to the interest and hard work of Joseph Teska, business manager, that the Kilties went from 13th place at the Spectacle of Music at South Milwaukee in 1948 to one of the top ranking corps for the 1953 season. In 1953 the Wisconsin VFW State Championship was rained out and the Kilties placed second at South Milwaukee’s Spectacle of Music in Class B, for corps with less than 10% of its members over 18 years old, for the fourth consecutive year. For some reason it would take the Kilties until 1972 before they would finally win the Spectacle of Music Championship. They also won it again in 1973. The Kilties competed for the first time in a national drum and bugle corps contest at the 1953 VFW National Championship preliminaries in Milwaukee, WI, on Wednesday morning , 08-05-53. By virtue of their strong second place finish in prelims, the Kilties were the only participating Midwest junior corps to make finals. The Kilties then placed fourth in the finals on Wednesday night before 25,000 spectators in Milwaukee County Stadium. The Kilties also competed at the 1953 American Legion National Championship at Public School Stadium in St. Louis, MO, on Sunday, 08-29-53, and placed sixth. The Kilties took first place in bugles. As a result of their excellent showing at the VFW Nationals in Milwaukee and at the American Legion Nationals in St. Louis, the Kilties were invited to and then did compete at the National Dream Contest in Jersey City, New Jersey. On Thursday night, 9-17-53, the Kilties became only the second Midwest Junior drum corps to compete at the National Dream Contest and finished in fifth place. The Kilties won the warm- hearted approval of the 17,000 spectators although they fared less well with the judges. The crowd reportedly “booed” the judges decision signifying their disapproval of the Kilties fifth place finish in this contest. “The Kilties will roar in 1954” was the corps’ motto as they practiced throughout the winter and spring of 1954. And roar they did! The Kilties came out like a lion and won the first three contests of the season in 1954 firmly establishing themselves as the corps to beat in the Midwest. For the rest of the season in the Midwest the Kilties took four more firsts, three seconds, a third and a fourth. The fourth place coming, of course, at the Spectacle of Music in South Milwaukee. Also, because Wisconsin’s VFW State Convention was in Racine in 1954, the Kilties didn’t compete and only appeared in exhibition. Nationally the Kilties went out East in 1954 from August 27th through September 4th to compete in the American Legion National Championship at Washington, D.C. and for the second year in a row at the National Dream Contest at Jersey City, New Jersey. On Sunday, 8-29-54, the Kilties finished in 8th place out of a field of 27 corps at the American Legion National Championship in Washington, D.C. The Kilties placed 3rd in bugles and took first in G. E. On Monday, 8-30-54, the Kilties’ Color Guard won the American Legion National Championship competing against a field of 16 other color guards. At the National Dream Contest on Thursday, 9-02-54, the Kilties placed 4th in front of 15,000 spectators in Roosevelt Field at Jersey City, New Jersey. The Kilties took 2nd in bugles, one tenth behind the first place Holy Name Cadets’ horn line. For the next three years, 1955 - 1957, the Kilties didn’t enter any national competitions and competed only in the Midwest with some success. The Kilties won both Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 6-25-55 at Eau Claire, WI and Wisconsin’s American Legion State Championship on 7-16-55 at Milwaukee, WI, in 1955. On Sunday, 11-13-55, the Kilties performed during halftime of the Packers - Cardinals football game in Green Bay, WI. Also in November of 1955 the Kilties purchased 11 new bugles due to the influx of new rookies that joined in the fall. During the Winter of 1956 the marching units of Southeast Wisconsin formed the Southeastern Wisconsin Drill Team Circuit and held two indoor contests for drill teams and color guards. These contests were started to bridge the gap between drum corps competitions during the summer. On 01-20-56 in the South Side Armory at Milwaukee the Kilties’ color guard took first place while the Kilties’ drill team finished in third place. Six color guards and seven drill teams competed. It was reported that hundreds of people were turned away from this contest as the South Side Armory was too small to hold all the spectators that wanted to see the contest. The second of the two Southeastern Wisconsin Drill Team Circuit contests was held in Racine’s Douglas Park Community Center’s gym on 03-17-56. At this contest the Kilties’ color guard also took first place and the Kilties’ drill team also finished in third place. The Douglas Park Community Center’s gym was filled to capacity for this contest. Six drill teams and four color guards competed. During the summer of 1956 the Kilties entered 13 contests but they came up with only one first place. That was at the “Drums in the Wilderness” contest, 7-19-56 at Ely, MN. The next day the Kilties, who were on a short tour of Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, were supposed to compete at Wisconsin’s American Legion State Championship in Eau Claire. The Kilties however couldn’t make the contest in time from Ely, MN. Also in 1956 the Kilties placed second at Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 6-30-56 at Manitowoc, WI. The winning corps was the Milwaukee Militaires. In the fall of 1956 Joseph Teska resigned after 10 years as business manager of the Kilties. He was replaced by Everett Hansen who had been Joseph Teska’s assistant for the past year. In 1957 the Kilties didn’t win any contests. They were a very young and inexperienced group of boys. At Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship held on June 30th, 1957, in Superior, WI, the Kilties finished in third place. The Kilties also placed fifth in competition at the Catholic War Veteran’s national convention competition in Marquette University’s Stadium on 8-16-57 at Milwaukee. 1957 saw the Kiltie Jr. Corps, under the leadership of Drillmaster Russ Gladys, appear in a few area parades. Also known as the rookie corps, it rehearsed once a week and was a parade corps only. In October of 1957 it was announced that new uniforms will be made for the Kilties. Starting March 5th, 1958, the Kilties began fitting the boys for their new uniforms. A full corps picture of the Kilties appeared on the cover of the February - March 1958 issue of “On Parade” magazine, the publication of the All American Drum - Bugle - Band Association with its national headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. The feature article in this issue was entitled “Impressive Is Word for Racine’s Youth Music Programs”. In April of 1958 the Kilties purchased 3 new bass bugles and in June of 1958 the Kilties purchased a new 16 foot long step van to replace their old equipment truck. The new van was painted a two-tone blue to match the new uniform colors and was large enough to house two sets of uniforms, two sets of drums and the entire horn section. This same van hauled the Kilties equipment thru 1974. In 1958 the Wisconsin drum corps banded together to form the Badgerland Drum and Bugle Corps Association. The first contest of the 1958 season was the Badgerland Drum and Bugle Corps Association’s First District Standstill Contest April 27th in Kenosha which the Kilties won. The corps was much improved over last year, especially the drum line. This contest was recorded by Ken Kobold. The Kilties appeared for the first time in their new uniforms of Anderson plaid kilts and tartans at the Boys of 76’s July 3rd, 1958, drum and bugle corps contest in Racine’s Horlick Athletic Field. The Anderson plaid is a multi-colored plaid interwoven into a field of powder blue, with powder blue the predominant color. New jackets were also made of powder blue to match the plaid. Because of complaints that the blue jackets with the blue Anderson plaid kilts and tartans were too drab on the competition field, especially at night, the Kilties still used their old uniforms of yellow and black McLeod plaid kilts and tartans with the red jackets in many competitions in 1958 and 1959. The new blue Anderson plaid kilts and tartans with matching blue jackets were used mainly in daytime parades for 1958 and 1959. The Wisconsin VFW State Convention held in Green Bay in 1958 decided not to have a drum corps contest for this year. The Kilties did re-enter national competition for the first time since 1954. The Kilties attended the VFW National Championship in New York on Wednesday, 8-20-58, and placed 14th in prelims, not making the top ten who advanced to the finals. The Kilties then competed at the American Legion National Championship in Hansen Field at Chicago on Saturday, 8-30-58, and finished in 11th place. Organized in the fall of 1958 from the Kilties, the Kiltie Kadets made their first marching appearance in Racine’s 1959 Memorial Day parade. With the Kiltie Kadets for boys ages 10 -13, the Kilties now were able to change their age requirement from 10 - 18 years old to 14 - 21 years old. On Saturday, 06-27-59, the Kilties took second place at the Wisconsin VFW State Championship in Wausau, WI. Madison Scouts took first place. Then at Wisconsin’s American Legion State Championship on 07-18- 59 at Kenosha the Kilties also took second place with the Madison Scouts again taking first place. The Kilties competed for the American Legion National Championship at Minneapolis, MN, on 8-23-59 and placed ninth. In 1960 the Kilties placed second at Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 6-25-60 at Madison, WI. The Madison Scouts placed first. The Kilties also placed second to the Madison Scouts at Wisconsin’s American Legion State Championship on 7-16-60 at Green Bay, WI. The Kilties traveled to Detroit, Michigan for the 1960 VFW National Championship where they placed 10th in prelims and 9th in finals. The Kilties’ brass quartet placed third, Perry Lee of the Kilties took first place in the individual soprano contest and Kiltie Brian Aller took first place in the individual baritone bugle contest. For 1960 and 1961 the Kilties wore their Anderson plaid uniforms with the matching blue jackets exclusively. Also, the Kilties appeared on the cover of the September, 1960 issue and the November, 1961 issue of Badgerland Corps News magazine. For the first time since 1956 the Kilties won a local field competition in 1961, in fact, they won seven: the Boys of 76’s Contest, the Kenosha Round-Up, the Kenosha County Fair Contest, and other Wisconsin contests in Milwaukee, Hales Corners, East Troy, and Wisconsin Rapids. The Kilties also won first place at the Tournament of Music event at Riverview Park in Chicago, Ill. This was the most successful season for the Kilties since 1954. In 1961 the Kilties placed second to the Racine Scouts at Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 6-24-61 at Sheboygan, WI, however, the Kilties’ color guard also competed and won the Junior division’s color guard contest at the 1961 VFW State Championship. Rain forced the Wisconsin American Legion State Championship to hold its contest in the Waukesha High School Gymnasium on 7-15-61 where the Kilties placed second to the Madison Scouts. The Kilties did compete at the 1961 VFW National Championship held at Miami Beach, Florida, where they placed 12th in prelims and 11th in finals. 1961 saw the top 12 drum corps make finals. Also, at the 1961 VFW National Championships the Kilties’ color guard placed 5th out of 21 competing color guards; the Kilties’ brass quartet took first place, and individual Kilties Gary King placed 3rd in individual soprano, Bryan Aller won individual baritone, Carl Gabbert placed 5th in individual bass bugle and Ronnie Sorenson came in 10th place in individual drumming. The Kilties took first place in the 1961 VFW National Convention’s parade competition. In 1962, faced with a membership growing in both numbers and size, there weren’t enough of the blue Anderson plaid uniforms to go around, so the color guard switched back to the old yellow and black McLeod kilts and tartans with red jackets. In 1963, for the same reasons, the drum line switched to the old red jackets but still kept their Anderson plaid kilts and tartans. These uniform combinations created a very colorful appearance for the Kilties and these uniform combinations remained the same thru the 1973 season. 1962 and 1963 were similar to the 1961season for the Kilties as they continued to win many local field competitions. For 1962 the Kilties didn’t compete at either the VFW or American Legion State Championships but they did compete at the VFW National Championship in Minneapolis, MN placing 8th in prelims and 11th in the finals. For the second year in a row the Kilties took first place in the VFW National Convention’s parade competition. Also, the Kilties’ drum quartet placed fourth, Bryan Aller of the Kilties placed first in individual bass bugle competition, and Kilties Scott Brockman was first and Gary King second in the individual soprano bugle competition at the 1962 VFW National Championship. Tom Sorenson of the Kilties was 12th in individual snare drum competition. During the winter of 1963 the Kilties’ color guard competed successfully winning both the Milwaukee Starlites color guard competition in March and the Royal Emporers of Milwaukee’s color guard competition in April. The Kilties’ color guard placed second at the Spring Music Festival at Madison in April. Also at the Madison Scouts’ Spring Music Festival the Kilties’ small corps took first place and individual Kilties took top honors in these contests: Bryan Aller first in bass horn, Bill Schultz second in bass bugle, Ken Norman first in French Horn, Scott Brockman first in Soprano; and Tom Sorenson first in snare drum. In 1963 the Kilties purchased three each of Ludwig’s Holton Classic soprano, French horn and bass-baritone bugles. The Kilties didn’t attend the Wisconsin VFW State Championship in 1963 but the Kiltie Kadets did and won the Junior Class B division. The Kilties did, however, win the American Legion State Championship at Madison on 7-20-63. The Kilties also didn’t attend any national championships in 1963. Three members of the Kilties did, however, compete in the individual competitions at the 1963VFW National Championship at Seattle. All three performed well, two of them capturing first place. Kiltie Bryan Aller took first in the bass bugle competition. He scored 91.25 points, which was the highest score in all of the individual competitions, including both senior and junior divisions. Ken Norman, another Kiltie representative, took first place in the French horn bugle competition while Kiltie Scott Brockman took fourth place in soprano bugle competition. Around this time the Kilties’ famous snare drummer logo, also known as the Sorny drummer logo, was drawn by rifle/rudimental bass drummer Butch Ryan. This logo was used by the Kilties for many years. Again in 1964 the Kilties had a very competitive competing winter color guard. For example the Kilties placed second at the Chi-Angel Contest in Chicago on 01-26-64, third at the Rockford, Ill., Purple Knights annual Flying Flags contest on 2-15-64 and finished in sixth place in the finals of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championship at Rockford, Ill., on 4-26-64. The Midwest Color Guard Circuit had 74 paid member color guards on their roster for 1964. The 1964 competitive season started out on a somewhat dismal note on Memorial Day in Kenosha where the Kilties ended up in 3rd place among 8 corps and almost 12 points below the 1st place Cavaliers. This ignominious start could have had a serious negative effect on the Kilties but actually it was the beginning of a fierce determination and a lot of hard work on the part of every person in the Kiltie organization to reach the top. The Kilties new that they had the potential for an excellent corps. The Kilties had a very good season in 1963 which provided them with a solid foundation upon which to build on for 1964. Also, the Kiltie Kadets, who won 12 first places in their contests in 1963, released 18 boys to the Kilties. The Kilties then went undefeated in competition for the month of June in 1964. July and August saw fierce competition in the Midwest as all the top Midwestern corps had improved and many top Eastern and Canadian drum corps`, such as the Toronto Optimists, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, Boston Crusaders, and Casper Troopers, toured through Wisconsin and Illinois. The Kilties still remained competitive throughout the summer, placing fourth at the Boys of 76’s Contest, second at South Milwaukee’s Spectacle of Music and third at the International Blue & Gold Tournament of Champions at Highland Park, Ill., which were the three biggest and most important contests in this area. I can find, however, no indication anywhere that the Kilties competed at either Wisconsin’s VFW or American Legion State Championships for 1964. After changing their concert in late summer from “The Sound of Music” to “The Volga Boatman”, the Kilties were now ready to take to the road in August. The Kilties’ tour for 1964 included the VFW Nationals at Cleveland, Ohio, the New York World’s Fair Contest and the World Open at Bridgeport, Conn. In competition with 44 other drum corps in prelims for the 1964 VFW National Championship at Cleveland, Ohio, the Kilties solidly placed first, 1.4 points ahead of the second place Royal Airs. Then in finals, in what Drum Corps World magazine stated was “a shocking display of personal determination” the Kilties convincingly took top honors and the championship from the third place Chicago Cavaliers, who held the title for the last three consecutive years. The second place Royal Airs were 1 ½ points behind the Kilties in finals. In individual competition at the 1964 VFW Nationals Kiltie Bryon Aller was first on bass bugle and also won the High Individual Bugle Score Trophy. Kiltie Bill Schultz, age 14, was the youngest person to take a first place at this VFW Nationals with his victory on the baritone bugle. Other Kilties also competed. Ken Norman took second place on French Horn, John Pankow took third on snare drum and John Dorsey was fourth on soprano bugle. The Kilties’ brass quartet placed second out of 13 brass quartets with St. Kevin’s Emerald Knights winning and the Kilties’ percussion quartet placed first out of 13 percussion quartets entered. The Kilties, for the third time in four years, were also awarded the parade trophy. The Kilties then continued out East where they finished in fourth place at the New York World’s Fair Contest on Saturday, 8-29-64, losing out on winning first place because of a one point flag penalty. The Kilties then finished in 7th place in the finals of the World Open at Bridgeport, Conn. Sixty-three drum corps reportedly competed in prelims on Sunday, 8-30-64, with the top ten making in finals. The Kilties, along with co-sponsor Anderson-Murphy VFW Post 2823 of Burlington, Wis., held their first drum and bugle corps contest ever on Sept. 5th, 1964, at the Burlington High School Stadium. The “Kiltie Kontest” would be held at this location thru the 1973 season. The Kilties appeared on the cover of the October, 1964, issue of Drum Corps World magazine. On 11-07-64 the All-American National Solo & Ensemble Contest was held in St. Louis, MO, with competitors from 17 Midwestern drum corps entered in the various contests. The Kiltie representatives that competed were outstanding. Against excellent competition, Kiltie Jack Pankow took first place on snare drum, Kiltie John Dorsey placed first on French Horn and the Kilties’ Bugle Quintet finished in first place. For 1965 the Kilties lost only a small number of members from their 1964 VFW National Championship corps. There was much enthusiasm and eagerness to practice among its members during the winter. There was a realization that with the remaining talent and experience, along with another large number of experienced boys that were released to the Kilties from the Kiltie Kadets in the fall, that the Kilties could produce another national championship contending corps for 1965. In 1965 the Kilties’ horn line appeared in magazine ads for Holton Classic bugles, which were designed and manufactured exclusive for the Ludwig Drum Co. by Getzen of Elkhorn, Wis. The Kilties also purchased some of Ludwig’s Holton Classic bass-baritone bugles in 1965 in addition to 15 Getzen Titleist soprano bugles. The Kilties won Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 6-26-65 at Appleton, Wis., and the next day topped a field of 12 corps in Open Class at Cedarburg, Wis. The Kilties appeared in Milwaukee’s great Circus parade on July 5th, 1965. In July the Kilties won the Boys of 76 Contest, Madison Scouts’ “Drums on Parade”, at Horicon, Wis., and the Kenosha Round-up. Then the Kilties toured Iowa instead of attending Wisconsin’s American Legion State Championship where they finished second at both Iowa contests to the Royal Airs. The Kilties again finished in second place at South Milwaukee’s “Spectacle of Music” behind the first place Cavaliers. Competing against 50 other drum corps in prelims at the 1965 VFW National Championship at Chicago, Ill., the Kilties placed sixth. The Kilties came back at finals to finish in third place behind the first place Chicago Royal Airs and the second place Chicago Cavaliers. The VFW National Championship was scheduled to be held at Chicago’s Soldier Field but because of threatening weather it was held inside Chicago’s McCormick Place. The Kilties’ percussion quartet took first place for the second year in a row while the Kilties’ brass quartet easily won by finishing 3 ½ points over the second place Chicago Royal Airs. Individual Kilties also performed very well. Kiltie Tom Sorenson finished in third place in snare drum competing against 28 others, John Dorsey took first place in soprano bugle, 15 year old Bill Schultz came in fourth place in baritone bugle, and Brian Aller came in first place in Bass bugle. Remarkably this was Brian Aller’s sixth year in a row that he won an individual VFW National Championship. This has to be some sort of Junior corps record! Brian Aller won on baritone bugle in 1960 & 1961 and from 1962 thru 1965 he was first on bass bugle in VFW National Championship individual bugle competition. 1965 was the last time that any Kilties would compete in any individual solo or ensemble competition that was held at a VFW National Championship. On Sunday, December 26, 1965, with the temperature in the 20's the Kilties performed during halftime of the Green Bay Packers vs. the Baltimore Colts football game in Green Bay. The Kilties' performance was interupted by a station break because the Kilties played "Hail To The Chief" along with "America, The Beautiful" for its flag presentation number. The Kilties were told that "Hail To The Chief" could only be played on television when the President of the United States was present. The Kilties had a very slow start in 1966 and as a result placed fourth at Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship on 06-25-66 at Janesville, Wis. The Kiltie Kadets took second place in Junior Class B losing only to the up and coming OLHR Queensmen of Kenosha, Wis., who would be an open class corps starting in 1967. The Kilties came in third place at the Wisconsin American Legion State Championship on 7-16-66 at Eau Claire, Wis. By mid-summer the Kilties had found themselves and improved greatly prior to their going out East in late August. On 8-20-66 the Kilties came in second place in competition at Marion, Ohio, and the next day placed fifth at the National Dream Contest at Jersey City, N.J. The 1966 VFW National Competition at Jersey City, N.J., featured two days of preliminary competition, Tuesday, August 23rd, and Wednesday, August 24th. Finals were held Wednesday night. The Kilties placed eighth in both preliminary competition and in the finals at the 1966 VFW Nationals. Scott Poulsen, drum major of the Kilties, appeared on the cover of the April, 1967 issue of Drum Corps Digest magazine. This issue contained a very nice two page article about the Kilties with many nice photos too. The Kilties started out the 1967 season much better prepared than they did in 1966 and took first place in their first contest on 06-03-67 at the Badgerland Association’s annual “Summer Preview” at Waukesha, Wis. The Kilties also won the Kenosha Round-Up on July 9th , at Horicon, WI on July 30th and at Wausau, WI on 9- 3-67. The Kilties came in second place eight times in contests throughout the summer of 1967 including placing second to the La Crosse Blue Stars at the 1967 Wisconsin VFW State Championship at La Crosse on 6-24-67. 1967 was the first year that the Kilties played Ken Norman’s now famous arrangement of “Auld Lang Syne”. 1967 was also the first year that the Kilties competed in Canada. The Kilties traveled to the 3rd annual Shriners’ International Championship at Toronto scheduled for 6-17-67. Rains came on the 17th so the contest was held the next day. The Kilties placed fifth and won the best color guard trophy. The Kilties were so warmly received by the Canadian drum corps fans that they would return to Toronto on an annual basis thru the 1972 season. At the 1967 VFW National Championship on 8-23-67 in New Orleans, LA, the Kilties placed 5th in both the prelims and the finals. The Kilties’ drum line finished second to the Cavaliers in the percussion caption. Cpl. Charles A. Johnson was killed in action in Vietnam on September 11, 1967. He had been a member of the Kilties for nine years before joining the U.S. Army. The 22 year old soldier was a member of the 8th Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division. He is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Racine. The Kilties hit the field in 1968 playing a brand new set of Smith G-F bugles including mellophones, Contras and flugel horns which were used by the Kilties for the first time. Ken Norman was now the Kilties’ music arranger and he arranged most of the Kilties very appealing 1968 music, however the Kilties started the season playing an Emil Pavlick arrangement for concert called “Ballad for Sopranos”. This was the last Emil Pavlick arrangement that the Kilties ever played. Emil retired from the Kilties at the end of the 1969 season after 17 years of service to the Kilties as music arranger and bugle instructor. Emil belongs in the Drum Corps Hall of Fame! The Kilties started out the 1968 season with three third place finishes in a row. Then the Kilties traveled to the Shriner’s International Championship on 6-15-68 at Toronto and continued their consistency by coming in third place. The Kilties won trophies for best field execution and best color guard. On Saturday, 6-29-68 at West Allis, WI, the Kilties won the Wisconsin VFW State Championship thus ending their string of third place finishes at four in a row. At South Milwaukee’s Spectacle of Music on 7-20-68 the Kilties came in third place in both the prelims and the finals. The Kilties started the 1968 season with a very good program and continued to make changes to it throughout the season to make it even better. They enlarged their drum line to improve their general effect drum score. As far as their drill was concerned, it was one of the most wide open and difficult drills around. However changes were made to the drill throughout the summer which improved their M & M execution score. But the most noticeable change occurred when the Kilties replaced their concert “Ballad for Sopranos” with Ken Norman’s masterpiece “MacArthur’s Park”. “MacArthur’s Park” was first played by the Kilties in two competitions on July 7th, at East Troy’s Galaxy of Stars in the afternoon and at the Kenosha Round-Up that night. The Kilties won both contests. At the 1968 VFW National Championship on 8-21-68 at Detroit, Michigan, the Kilties tied for fourth place with the Royal Airs in preliminary competition. The tie between the Kilties and the Royal Airs, to see who would appear before the other in finals, was decided by a coin flip. The Royal Airs lost the toss so they would appear before the Kilties. The Kilties put on an unbelievable show at finals. Their performance moved the 18,000 spectators to their feet and they stayed there throughout the Kilties’ entire show. The Kilties could not hear the drum major’s commands because of the loudly cheering crowd. Only three corps received standing ovations during finals; the 27th Lancers, the Troopers and the Kilties who received by far the most enthusiastic standing ovation of the evening. Needless to say, the Kilties won the 1968 VFW National Championship. The Kilties took first in brass, first in G. E., tied for first with St. Joe’s of Batavia in percussion and came in fifth place in M & M. In 2002, some 34 years later, there was some discussion on the internet about whether the Royal Airs received a one point penalty or a two point penalty at finals of the 1968 VFW National Championship. Some claim that the Royal Airs received a two point penalty, not a one point penalty, thereby loosing the 1968 VFW National Championship because of a penalty. This just is not true. There are no contemporaneously written articles that state anything other than the Royal Airs received a one point penalty, therefore, they would have only taken second without this penalty. Also, the official 1968 VFW recap sheet indicates that it was only a one point penalty. Mathematics can further substantiate this. The Royal Airs’ caption scores add up to 89.00 and their final score is listed as 88.00 indicating that only a one point penalty was received. In order for the Royal Airs to have received a two point penalty and to have their final score an 88.00, their caption scores would have to add up to 90.00 and they don’t! Therefore, with a score of 89.85, the Kilties won the 1968 VFW National Championship outright. Without their one point penalty, the Royal Airs had 89.00 which would have earned them only second place. Whereas with the one point penalty the Royal Airs finished in fifth place. Roger Zackula and his wife Eileen, a young mother-to-be, saw the Racine Kilties’ winning performance at the finals of the 1968 VFW Nationals in Detroit, Mich., and they were very impressed. Roger and Eileen Zackula lived in Wichita, Kansas, and they both were so taken by the lads in plaid that they named their newborn daughter Racine Zacukla in honor of the Racine Kilties. The Kilties performed during halftime of the Green Bay Packer - Minnesota Viking game at Milwaukee County Stadium on Sunday, 09-22-68. Tex Reynolds stated in his column on Monday in the Racine Journal Times, “If the Packers had performed as well during the game as the Racine Kilties did during halftime at Milwaukee County Stadium Sunday, everything would have been dandy. As it was, the Packers got whomped and the Kilties got the crowd’s applause.” On October 24, 1968, the Board of the Kiltie Parents Club met with representatives of the YMCA Executive Board to discuss whether or not the Kilties had grown and become successful enough that existence outside the YMCA’s organizational structure was feasible, and perhaps even desirable. After much discussion, the two groups decided that the Kilties should form a separate organization outside the YMCA, and the YMCA expressed the desire to assist the Kilties in their new venture in any way they could. The Kilties would retain their name, uniforms, instruments, equipment, etc., that belong to them. The Kiltie Parents Club immediately after this meeting went over to check out a church building located at 901 Hayes Ave. in Racine. This church building, formerly the Immanuel Baptist Church, became the new “Kiltie Hall” when owner Kingston Ehrlich, a Racine Realtor, and the Kilties reached a rental agreement. The deal was that Kingston W. Ehrlich would donate $3,000 yearly to the Kilties and then he would charge the Kilties the same amount for rent. The many rooms, meeting halls and excellent facilities provided great accommodations for the Kilties. The Kilties announced that they were severing their ties with Racine’s YMCA in an article in the Racine Journal Times on 12-14-68. By January of 1969 the Kilties were $7,000 in debt which was mostly incurred from last year’s expenses. Also, not enough parents were getting involved in the Kiltie Parents Club anymore, thereby making it very difficult for the Kiltie Parents Club to perform the work and the jobs necessary for the Kiltie organization to survive. Financial problems and the lack of parental involvement with the Kiltie Parents Club would continue for the next two years almost causing the Kilties to fold during the winter of 1971. For the first time since 1964 the Kilties had a competing winter color guard for 1969 and they were very competitive with three firsts, three seconds, a third and a fourth place finish in the eight local winter guard contests that they entered. Eight of the Kilties’ winter guard members were rookies. At the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championship at Libertyville, Ill., on April 12 & 13, 1969, the Kilties came in 7th place in prelims and finished in 9th place in the ten color guard finals. On Wednesday, May 28, 1969, the Kilties were discussed in a letter to Ann Landers which appeared in newspapers throughout the country. The letter was titled “Racine Kiltie Corps” and appeared as follows: “DEAR ANN LANDERS: Thank you for not saying anything against the young man who wore a kilt. His girl was shocked and her mother almost fainted, but they were ignorant people who don’t know anything about the kilt’s great tradition of manhood and courage. Those of us who live in Racine, Wisconsin, are proud of our Drum and Bugle Corps. They won the National V.F.W. Championship in 1964 and again in 1968. “It’s a glorious sight to see those handsome lads marching along with their drums and bugles, wearing kilts. Those of us who know, consider kilts not only snappy looking but a darned sight more respectable than trousers that are so tight a kid can’t sit down in them. Sign me HIGHLAND FLING Ann Landers responded with: “DEAR HIGH: I’ve seen the Racine Kilties Drum and Bugle Corps and they are as inspiring a group as ever tootled its way to the top. Cheers!” The Kilties experienced their finest season in their history in 1969 starting the season with nine straight victories including taking first place at the Shriners’ 5th Annual International Championship at Toronto, 06-21- 69 and at the Wisconsin VFW State Championship at Superior, Wis., on 6-28-69. At the Shriners’ International Championship the Kilties won every caption except percussion, and in that they were second. The Kilties took top brass, color guard, G. E., M & M and drum major. The Kilties winning streak ended on 7-19-69 at South Milwaukee’s Spectacle of Music where the jinx continued. The Kilties did take first place in the preliminaries that Saturday morning but the Kilties were edged by the Cavaliers in the evening finals. The Kilties then finished in second place, losing to the Cavaliers the next day at McHenry, Ill. The Kilties bounced back and won their next four contests including the Illinois Association Championship on 8-02-69 at Bradley, Ill., and “Little Nationals” on 8-08-69 at Delavan, Wis. Then the Kilties hit another speed bump, taking second place because of a one point penalty which caused them to finish behind the Des Plaines Vanguard at the Wisconsin State Fair Contest at West Allis, Wis., on Saturday afternoon, 8-09-69. Then that same night the Kilties came in second place again, this time losing to the Casper Troopers at the Racine Scout’s Contest in Racine, Wis. The Kilties then won the Kenosha County Fair Contest the next day, Sunday, 8-10-69, which was their last contest before heading out East. First stop on the Kilties Eastern tour was at Marion, Ohio, for the U.S. Open Championship August 15th & 16th. The Kilties placed second in the competition parade behind the Blue Rock. The Kilties won prelims and then swept all captions to win finals by almost 10 points over the second place Argonne Rebels. The second stop was a contest at Norristown, PA, a few miles outside of Philadelphia where the 1969 VFW National Convention was being held. On Monday night, 8-18-69, the Kilties won the Norristown, PA, Contest by over 5 points over the second place Des Plaines Vanguard. Next was the VFW National Championship at Philadelphia with the prelims on Wednesday morning and finals Wednesday night, 8-20-69. Even though the Kilties automatically had a spot in finals because they were defending VFW National Champions, they still opted to compete at prelims and finished in second place behind the Cavaliers. The Kilties, led by their outstanding horn line, edged the Cavaliers in finals to win the 1969 VFW National Championship. The Kilties took a close second in G. E., close thirds in both percussion and M & M, however, the Kilties took top brass by 1.1 points over the second place horn line of the Troopers. The Kilties then won a contest in Butler, PA, on 8-23-69, on their way back home. The Kilties then had two contests left, both on Labor Day weekend. The Kilties won the first one at Wausau, Wis., on Sunday 8-31- 69 and placed second to the winning La Crosse Blue Stars on Labor Day at Janesville, Wis., thus ending the greatest season in Kiltie history. A picture of the Kilties appeared on the cover of the October, 1969 issue of Drum Corps Digest. For the second year in a row the Kilties had a competing winter color guard and again they were very competitive taking four firsts, six seconds, a third and a fourth place. Victories included the Badgerland Circuit Championship at West Allis, Wis., on 01-31-70. The Kilties ended the winter color guard season by placing 7th in the finals of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championship at Bradley, Ill., 04-12-70. 1970 saw the Kilties produce another excellent drum corps which managed to successfully defend two of its titles right away in June. The Kilties repeated last year’s win at the Shriners’ International Championship at Toronto on 6-20-70 with a two point win over the second place 27th Lancers. The Kilties won best drum major and field execution (M & M) while St. Joe’s of Batavia captured drumming honors and the 27th Lancers swept the awards for best color guard, brass and G.E. The Kilties then went on to also successfully defend its Wisconsin VFW State title for the third time in a row with a victory at the 1970 VFW State Championship at Green Bay on 6-27-70. The Blue Stars had a two point penalty which dropped them from first place to third place. In July the Kilties placed second to the Troopers at the first annual American Nationals at Northbrook, Ill., on 7-10-70. This contest was sponsored by Drum Corps Digest magazine. The next day at Milwaukee, Wis., the Kilties placed sixth in finals at the first annual North American Nationals where 30 drum corps competed in the morning prelims for the ten finals’ spots. In August the Kilties successfully defended its Illinois Association title by winning the Illinois Association Championship on 8-01-70 at Bradley, Ill. The Kilties placed fourth at Delevan, Wisconsin’s “Little Nationals” on 08-07-70. However, a broken drum stick kept the Kilties from repeating as champions in the U.S. Open in Marion, Ohio, 8-14-70. The Kilties received a ½ point penalty for the broken drum stick which kept the Kilties from tying the Madison Scouts for the 1970 U. S. Open Championship. The Kilties wound up in second place in the finals after placing second earlier in the day in prelims. At the 1970 VFW National Championship on 8-19-70 in Miami, Fla., the Kilties were not able to defend their title, placing fifth in prelims and sixth in finals. The American Legion Uniform Rules Congress met the weekend of October 17 & 18, 1970, in Indianapolis, Ind., with more than 250 members attending the two day event. A Five Corps Combine was introduced by directors of the related corps, however, the Kilties were not a part of this Combine. For the third year in a row the 1971 Kilties had a very competitive winter guard. During the 1971 winter color guard season the Kilties took first place four times including defending their Badgerland Association Color Guard Championship title in Kenosha on 3-28-71where 15 color guards competed. The Kilties also took a second, a third, two fourths, a fifth and a sixth place. At the Midwest Color Guard Circuit’s Open Class prelims on 4-17-71 at Bradley, Ill., something bizarre happened to keep the Kilties from making the ten color guard finals. During the Kilties’ preliminary performance, their American Flag fell out of its posting bucket and laid on the floor. This accident cost the Kilties a four point penalty keeping them from competing in the finals of Open Class. The Kilties finished in 17th place out of 27 color guards that competed in the Open Class prelims. Without this penalty the Kilties would’ve placed 10th and made finals. Special awards are presented at the end of the Midwest Color Guard Circuit season and Ken Morrall of the Kilties received the “Commanders Medallion”. This award is presented annually to a male and female color guard member who display outstanding character, leadership, ideals, personality and scholarship. Some former members of the Kilties, including two of the 1935 originals, joined with active members of the Kilties to record a 16-number, 35-minute long, “Best of the Kilts” record at the David Kennedy Sound Studio in Milwaukee on April 10, 1971. 64 musicians, either active Kilties or Alumni who have kept active in music were recruited for the “Best of the Kilts” recording. Ken Norman handled the arranging and directing for the recording. This group of musicians got down the 16 numbers in four Sunday night rehearsals. And the numbers reflected part of the 1971 Kiltie repertoire, some favorites from the past and some specially chosen for the recording. Tom Wridt was project leader and production coordinator and Ken Pias was publicity and marketing director for the project. The “Best of the Kilts” was recorded in the studio on eight-track tape equipment using 18 microphones. Ken Norman stated, “Our purpose, basically, is to reach a drum corps and music audience with a better product than has been available before.” The Kilties produced and marketed this record independently. Besides trying to produce the best-ever recording of drum corps music, the project also intended to raise funds to aid the Kiltie financial picture. The picture was described as “extremely critical.” Along with the financial problems that the Kilties had, the Kilties had few returning veterans and recruiting seemed to be a problem now. Although the winter color guard was very active and competitive, there were so few horns and drummers that it was starting to get scary. Prospective new members would show up at a rehearsal and leave discouraged by how small the corps was. Rumors were spreading all over the country that the Kilties were folding. The winter of 1970-71 was so bad for the Kilties that at one point they considered forming a “super” corps. The plan was to open the membership up to allow males of any age to join. Then the Kilties hoped to recruit enough of their over-age alumni and other adults to join together with the current members of the Kilties to form a “super” corps. In December of 1971 Ed Porcaro was named business manager of the Kilties. Ed, a former Kiltie and Boys of 76 drummer, was a smart business man and a strong leader. He was also a very likable guy who was an excellent recruiter. By late spring Ed had brought dissension within the corps under control with his positive attitude and he had convinced enough of-age Alumni to return and recruited enough new members so that the Kilties abandoned their “super” corps notion and decided that they would field a junior corps instead for 1971. In June of 1971 Ed Porcaro was hired to do the dual job of corps director and business manager. Because of all of the problems that the Kilties experienced over the winter and the influx of new members just before the season was to start, the Kilties were way behind and not ready to field a corps when the season did start at the end of May. The Kilties finally competed for the first time in 1971 at the Cavaliers’ Contest in Park Ridge, Ill., on 06-12-71where they came in fifth place. The following weekend, 6-20-71, the Kilties won the Northwest Festival in Milwaukee. At this contest the Kilties beat two of the corps that it lost to at the Cavaliers’ Contest the week before. This was a hard working Kiltie corps that improved tremendously over the course of the summer. At the 1971 Wisconsin VFW State Championship in Kenosha, Wis., on 6-26-71 the Kilties came in third place behind the victorious Madison Scouts and the second place Blue Stars. But the Kilties had gained eleven points on the Blue Stars in the two weeks since the Cavaliers’ Contest. The Kilties appeared in the gigantic Schlitz Circus Parade on July 4th in Milwaukee which was also televised. Also on July 4th the “Best of the Kilts” record album became available. The price was $5.95 in either mono or stereo. On July 10, 1971 the Kilties came back in finals to win the second annual North American Championship at Milwaukee, Wis. Earlier in the day the Kilties finished in third place out of 21 corps in prelims. The Kiltie Kadets won the Class C competition at the North American Championship. The Kilties took third place in finals at the South Milwaukee Spectacle of Music on 7-24-71, however, it was a good July for the Kilties. During July the Kilties won the “Youth On Parade” competition in Des Plaines, Ill., on 7-05-71; the V-J Day Celebration’s Contest in Woodstock, Ill., on 7-11-71, and the National Preview at Salamanca, N.Y. on 7-30-71 in addition to winning the North American Championship. The Kilties didn’t compete at the Shriners’ International Championship in Toronto this year but on 8-02-71 the Kilties placed fifth at the Alhambra Invitational at Toronto, Canada. The Kilties then returned to Racine and won the Racine Scouts’ contest on 8-07-71. The Kilties intended to go to the 1971 VFW National Championship in Dallas, Texas, but after taking fifth place at the Mid-America Open in Overland Park, Kansas, on 8-14-71, the corps members themselves voted to save the money and turn around and go home, which is what they did. The Kilties then ended their season in a positive manner by winning the “Parade of Champions” Contest on Labor Day, 09-06-71 at Janesville, Wis. This contest also brought to an end the career of one of the greatest drum majors ever. Scott Poulsen, Kilties drum major since 1963, had aged out. Scott Poulsen joined the Kiltie Kadets when he was 9 years old. They tried to make a drummer out of him, but the knee clap for the drum wrapped around his ankle instead of his knee, preventing him from marching. Scott was a good marcher so he was trained as a drum major. In 1963 Scott moved up to the Kilties from the Kiltie Kadets and became their drum major. He was now the little shadow of the Kilties’ drum major, Carl Last, who was “Showman of the Year” for 1963. In 1964 the Kilties held tryouts for drum major and Scott lost, but won. The winner was a lead soprano but he had to stay a horn so Scott became the sole drum major for the Kilties from 1964 thru 1970. In 1971 Russ Epps was co-drum major with Scott Poulsen. In 1964 Scott was named “Drum Major of the Year” by a national committee of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also in 1964, Scot was chosen as “Showman of the Year” by a selection committee headed by Edward Rooney, a Drum Corps World” magazine writer and also a theatrical director and producer in Boston. Scott received a silver Oscar for his “Showman of the Year“ award, which is similar to the movie academy’s golden Oscar. It was presented to him in February, 1965, at the indoor drum corps standstill show in the Civic Opera House at Chicago. In 1965 Scott became the first drum major to ever win the “Showman of the Year” award twice. Scott then went on the win “Showman of the Year” again in 1966 and 1967. Winning “Showman of the Year” for four consecutive years earned Scott entry into the Drum Corps Hall of Fame in Chicago. At Drum Corps Day in Racine, Wis., 6-19-69, Scott received the 1968 VIP award. The VIP award was given annually to a drum corps or an individual by Tony Schlecta, contest director of the national VFW committee. Drum Corps America Magazine named Scott Poulsen its Drum Major of the Year for 1971. With the problems of 1971 behind them, the Kilties had a great winter of recruiting and rehearsing which in turn led to the Kilties fielding their largest corps so far in the summer of 1972. The Kilties were not apart of the group of drum corps that founded DCI in 1972, however the Kilties did routinely beat some of those drum corps throughout the summer of 1972. Three pictures of the Kilties which formed a big letter ‘K’ graced the cover of the May, 1972 issue of Drum Corps America magazine. The Kilties fielded an excellent and very competitive corps for 1972. During the summer of 1972 the Kilties won a total of eleven drum corps contests including the South Milwaukee Spectacle of Music on 7-22-72, the World Open Championship, after placing third in prelims, on 8-05-72 in Boston, Mass., and the Danny Thomas Invitational on 8-06-72 also in Boston. At the contest in Mayville, Wis., on 6-25-72, the Kilties marched away with the championship even though many of the corps’ members were infected with the German Measels. The Kilties also placed fourth at the Shriners’ International Championship on 6-17-72 at Toronto; came in second place to the Blue Stars at the 1972 VFW State Championship at Appleton, WI., on 6-24-72; sixth in prelims and fifth in finals at the North American Championship on 7-08-72 at Milwaukee; third in prelims and fourth in the finals of the U. S. Open Championship on 8-12-72; sixth in prelims and eighth in finals at the DCI Championship on 8-18-72 in Whitewater, WI; and second in both prelims and finals at the 1972 VFW National Championship on 8-22-72 in Minneapolis, Minn. WTMJ-TV of Milwaukee filmed an in-depth special of the Racine Kilties as part of their continuing series entitled “Drum Corps in Racine.” The Kilties were filmed for this special at one of their practices in late June and at the Boys of 76 contest on July 3rd, 1972. The special aired at 6 p.m., July 4th, 1972 on Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV. On Friday night, 8-25-72, the Kilties performed between baseball games of the Brewer/White Sox doubleheader at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Kilties sponsored two drum corps contests in 1972, one at Kenosha’s Lake Front Stadium on Memorial Day, 5-29-72 and the other at Burlington’s High School Stadium on 7-30-72. After not having a competing winter color guard in 1972, the Kilties did have one during the winter of 1973. At the Midwest Circuit Championship on 4-15-73 at Wheeling, Ill., the Kilties took fifth place in finals. Again in 1973 the Kilties had a very enjoyable show and a very competitive drum corps winning five contests over the course of the summer including winning for the second year in a row the South Milwaukee Spectacle of Music on 7-28-73 and winning the Illinois Association Championship on 8-25-73. The Kilties also took second place seven times including at the DCI Preview on 7-01-73 at Whitewater, Wis., and at the Blue Grass Nationals ’73 on 8-04-73 at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1973 the Kiltie Kadets presented a pre-game show at the Packer intra-squad game in Green Bay before 56,000 people. Thomas Craven, a world-wide Film Corporation, made arrangements with the Kilties to film them at one of their 1973 summer competitions. The Kiltie segment of the VISION USA television series was produced for the United States Information Agency and was shown on television in 84 countries. The Kilties finished in fourth place at both the DCI Western Preview contest in De Kalb, Ill., on 6-30-73 and at the Big V Invitational held in Milwaukee, Wis., on 7-02-73. The Kilties placed second in prelims at the U.S. Open held in Marion, Ohio, on 8-11-73 and came in fourth place in the finals. At the 1973 DCI Championship held in Whitewater, Wis., on 8-17-73, the Kilties were sixth in prelims and fifth in finals. On July 29, 1973, the last Kiltie Kontest was held in Burlington, Wis. The Kiltie Kadets’ buses and equipment truck was broken into sometime during Chistmas vacation in December of 1973 and equipment and instruments were vandalized and destroyed. This happened again in June of 1974 with equipment and instruments again being vandalized and destroyed. The Kiltie Kadets and their Parents Club did anything and everything to raise the funds necessary to repair or replace everything that it needed to as a result of the first incident in December of 1973. Then they had to do it all over again in June of 1974. On Friday, 12-28-73, the Kilties were shocked to learn that Kingston W. Ehrlich, a Racine real estate broker and the owner of “Kiltie Hall”, an old church building at 901 Hayes Ave., in Racine, had given “Kiltie Hall” to the YMCA. He allowed the Kilties to use it since 1968 when the Kilties had severed its connection with the YMCA. Each year Kingston W. Ehrlich would give the Kilties a $3,000 cash donation and then charge the Kilties the same amount in rent. The Kiltie Parents Club thought that they were close to owning the building as they were currently in negotiations for it with Kingston W. Ehrlich when they found out that he had given it away to the YMCA. Edward Porcaro, Director of the Kilties, stated, “there’s no doubt about it, the loss of this building could jeopardize the Kilties. There is no place we can practice. Where do you send 110 kids each week to rehearse?” Luckily, the YMCA still let the Kilties continued to use the building for its rehearsals for the time being. During the winter of 1974 the hot rumor going around in Wisconsin & Illinois was that the two Racine drum corps, the Kilties and the Racine Explorer Scouts would form a temporary merger for the summer. Although merger talks between the Kilties and the Racine Explorer Scouts may have taken place, it really was nothing more than a rumor as this merger never happened. What did happen was that the Racine Explorer Scouts didn’t field a corps at all for 1974 and several of their members joined the Kilties. 1974 was yet another year that saw the Kilties field a very competitive and entertaining drum corps. The Kilties hit the field in new uniforms too in 1974. The whole corps was now in new yellow and black McLeod plaid kilts and tartans and were wearing their old blue and red jackets which had been dyed black. During the 1974 season the Kilties placed in the top three in almost every contest that they entered including placing second at the Big V Invitational on 7-08-74 in Milwaukee, Wis.; taking first place at the Wisconsin American Legion State Championship held in Milwaukee on 7-13 -74; placing third in finals at DCI Midwest in Whitewater on 7-27-74 ; third in prelims at the Blue Grass Nationals ‘74 on 8-2-74 at Lexington, Kentucky, however finals were rained out.; placing second in finals at the World Open Championship, 8-10- 74 at Lowell, Mass.; and placing third at CYO Nationals on 8-13-74 at Boston, Mass. Midway through the Kilties’ performance at finals in the 1974 World Open a malfunction occurred or someone intentionally turned on the sprinkler system sending jets of water all over the field and drenching the Kilties. Showing excellent discipline the Kilties continued with their performance undaunted. At the 1974 DCI Championship in Ithaca, NY, on 8-17-74, the Kilties placed fourth in prelims and sixth in finals. Also in the 1974 DCI Solo and Ensemble competition, Kiltie Dan Holzman took first place on the French Horn bugle. The Racine Kilties performed at Soldier Field in Chicago for the opening of the new World Football League on July 10, 1974. Since the Kilties’ appearance, many other drum and bugle corps appeared at World Football League games throughout the United States and the league was thinking about using drum corps exclusively for its half-time entertainment for 1975. In April of 1975 Ed Porcaro, Executive Director of the Kilties, said good-by to the Kiltie organization. Ed’s business commitments required him to relocate to the Philadelphia area. Ed left the corps in excellent shape for the coming 1975 season. The Kilties had an almost completely new musical program and they were 130 members strong including 60 horns, 30 percussion, 38 in the guard. The Kilties also had a top notch staff. In 1975 the Kilties again had an excellent season and almost always placed in the top three in local contests. At major shows the Kilties also fared very well, at the Big V Invitational on 6-28-75 at Milwaukee the Kilties came in fourth place. At the Spectacle of Music in South Milwaukee on 7-26-75 the Kilties finished in third place. At DCI Midwest on 8-02-75 at Whitewater, Wis., the Kilties placed fifth in prelims and took fourth place in finals. The Kiltie Kadets opened the finals at DCI Midwest with a very well received exhibition. At the 1975 American International on 08-006-75 at Butler, PA., the Kilties placed third in prelims and fourth in finals. At the 1975 World Open at Everett, Mass., on 8-9-75, the Kilties placed fifth in both prelims and finals. At CYO Nationals on 8-11-75 at Newton, Mass., the Kilties finished in sixth place in finals. At the 1975 DCI Championship in Philadelphia August 13-15, 1975, the Kilties took eighth in prelims and seventh in finals. At the 1975 DCI solo and ensemble competition, the Kilties’ brass ensemble took first place and their drum ensemble finished in second place. Kilties Dave Sawiske took first place on baritone bugle and Ron “Fog” Anderson took first on Tim Tom drum. The Kilties appeared on the cover of South Milwaukee’s 30th Annual Wisconsin Spectacle of Music Program souvenir program book, which was held on 07-26-75. The Kilties also appeared on the front cover of Drum Corps World's August 15, 1975 issue. A photo of the Kilties' snare line was featured in Ludwig's "Vistalite" drum ad which also appeared on the back cover of Drum Corps World's August 15, 1975 issue. In 1976 the Kilties experienced a real challenging year. They just weren’t that competitive. For the first time since 1958 the Kilties failed to make the finals of a national championship when they placed 28th in prelims at the DCI Championship in Philadelphia, PA., August 18-21, 1976. The Kilties also missed making finals at DCI Midwest on 8-7-76 at Whitewater where they placed thirteenth out of twenty corps in prelims. Only the top ten made finals. At the Big V Invitational on 8-4-76 at Milwaukee the Kilties placed ninth. The Kilties did manage a nice accomplishment in 1976 by placing fifth out of 25 corps in prelims and taking fourth in finals at the American International Championship, 8-11-76, at Butler, PA. Also the Kilties came in eleventh place at CYO Nationals on 8-16-76 at Newton, Mass. The Kiltie Kadets took first place in Class C at the 1976 Wisconsin VFW Sate Championship in Wausau, WI, on 6-25-76. Incredibly the Kilties bounced back with a very nice, competitive corps in 1977. One factor that helped the Kilties to rebound was that their feeder corps, the Kiltie Kadets, sent up 35 experienced young men to the Kilties. But both the Kilties and the Kiltie Kadets were now having trouble recruiting new members. At the Big V contest in South Milwaukee on 6-29-77 the Kilties came in fifth place, however, the Kilties took first in drums. The Kilties also came in fifth place at DCI Midwest on 8-06-77 at Whitewater, WI. The Kilties did experience some success on their western tour to Denver for the DCI Championships. Starting 8-08-77 in Alton, IL, the Kilties came in fourth place but then the Kilties took first place on 8-09-77 in Martin, TN. On 8-11-77 the Kilties performed an exhibition at Six Flags over Texas in Dallas, TX, and then on 8-12-77 the Kilties held a clinic in Dallas, TX, for the Texas Bandmasters’ Association. In Oklahoma City on 8-13-77 the Kilties took another first. At the DCI Championship Aug. 16-19, 1977, in Denver, CO., the Kilties tied with the Garfield Cadets in prelims for eleventh place and took tenth place in finals. The Kiltie Kadets took third place at the Cadet Corps International Championship on 9-03-77 at Stoughton, WI. Racine’s Mayor Steven Olson, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Kiltie Kadets, proclaimed Sept. 25 - Oct. 1 as Kiltie Kadet Week. In the corps’ 20 years of operation, the Kiltie Kadets grew from a small parade corps of 35 boys and three performances a year to an organization of over 100 boys with 40 performances and parades in 1977. For 1978 the Kiltie Kadets made its first uniform change in their 20 year history. The Kiltie Kadets’ new uniform will feature a navy blue Scottish military pipe band jacket, matching navy blue shorts and knee socks, red Fraser plaid tartan, white spats and imported tam-o’shanters. The Kilties in 1978 retained their familiar yellow and black McLeod plaid kilts and tartans, but changed from the black jackets to new yellow jackets which coordinated with the McLeod plaid. The jackets, costing $7,000, also featured black chest braiding, black epaulets, black gauntlet cuffs and each having a black crossbelt. The jackets also had red highlighting. The Kilties also spent $103,000 on new musical instruments in 1978 including purchasing a new set of two valve bugles. In 1978 the Kilties became concerned about their image in Racine. It was believed by the Kilties that they were more appreciated in other areas than in their own hometown of Racine and also that they were gone too much in recent years. In order to attract the local support it needed, more local appearances were scheduled for 1978. In the spring of 1978 the Kilties opened up their membership to allow females to join leaving only the Chicago Cavaliers and the Madison Scouts as the only two all-male junior drum and bugle corps left. And for the last time in their history, the Kilties fielded a wonderful, DCI finalist corps. The Kilties came in second place at Wisconsin’s VFW State Championship 6-24-78 at Racine, WI, with the Blue Stars taking first place. The Kilties revised a significant portion of their drill and music after July 3rd. The Kilties horn line grew from 43 to 52 bugles, a nine man snare line replaced the cluster drums, drill changes to highlight the show, and to the delight of Kilt fans throughout the country, they replaced their exit song “Billy The Kid” with their musical signature “Auld Lang Syne.” The Kilties performed in their street clothes in competition at Georgia Tech Field in Atlanta on 7-08-78 and took fourth place. Their equipment truck with their uniforms was still in Nashville, Tenn., having the engine replaced, leaving the Kilties no choice but to perform in their street clothes. On the return from their southern tour, George and Lynn Lindstrom, executive director and business manager respectively, resigned effective July 18, 1978. The instructional staff remained intact and the Kilts Board of Directors temporarily took over the operations of the corps. At the DCI Midwest Championship at Whitewater on 7-15-78 the Kilties finished in 12th place in both prelims and finals. At the first Drum Corps Midwest Championship on 7-29-78 at DeKalb, Ill., the Kilties took sixth place in both the prelims and finals. The Kilties placed sixth in finals at DCI North at Ypsilanti, Mich., on 8-03-78 and on 8-05-78 placed sixth at the U.S. Open at Marion, Ohio. The Racine Kilts began their 18 day DCI western tour with many changes and their scores beginning to climb. At the DCI Championship Aug. 15 - 19, 1978, in Denver, CO, the Kilties placed 12th in both prelims and finals. The Kiltie Kadets placed third again at the 1978 Cadet Corps International Championship held in Rockford, Ill., on 9-04-78. In 1979 the Kilts had a competing winter guard for the first time since 1973. At the Winter Guard International Championship on 4-01-79 at Madison, WI, the Kilts winter guard placed 14th in finals. The top fifteen winter guards made finals. In the summer of 1979 the Kilts never recovered from their slow start and as a result they were not very close to being a DCI finalist caliber corps. The Kilts had many young, inexperienced members and the corps was small, 45 horns, 4 snares, 3 tenors, etc. The Kilts slowly put their show together, however, by late June the color guard still had much of their guard work to be added. The Kilts did work hard that summer and made noticeable improvement from week to week but it just wasn’t going to be a very good year for them. The Kilts traveled to Montreal in Quebec, Canada for a DCI Invitational on 7-08-79. Eight corps competed and the Kilts came in 8th or last place. At DCI North on 7-12-79 in Ypsilanti, Mich., the Kilts placed 12th in prelims but only the top ten made finals. Both the Kilts and the Kiltie Kadets competed in Open Class prelims at DCI Midwest, July 13-14, 1979, at Whitewater, WI. Twenty-four corps competed in prelims and the Kilts took fifteenth place while the Kiltie Kadets finished in 24th or last place. The Kilts’ annual drum and bugle corps contest now called “Brigadoon” was held before an unusually sparse crowd at South Division High School’s Athletic Field on July 27th in Milwaukee. This was the first time that the Kilts sponsored a contest in Milwaukee and they were puzzled by the small crowd. It was a beautiful night with a fine slate of competing corps. The Kilts continued to improve both their show and their execution. This hard work paid off as the Kilts placed sixth in finals at the Drum Corps Midwest Championship, 7-28-79, in DeKalb, Ill. The Kilts also placed sixth in prelims out of 21corps with the top ten making finals. To complicate matters for the Kilts in 1979, for the second year in a row their Executive Director resigns right before their August tour that culminated at the DCI Championship. This year William Schrack, Executive Director of both the Kilts and Kiltie Kadets since September of 1978, resigned effective August 1st because he had accepted a position with Mutual of Omaha which required him to attend training in Omaha. Schrack was the first full time employee of the Racine Kiltie Parents Club, Inc. The Kilts and Kiltie Kadets left August 3rd and August 11th respectively for their southern tours with the last stop for both corps being at the DCI Championship in Birmingham, Alabama on August 18th. I believe that the last drum and bugle corps contest that the Kilties ever won was a DCM contest in Indianapolis, Ind., on August 4, 1979, where the Kilts eked out a win over the second place Colts and third place Sky Ryders in a very close contest . Six corps competed. At the DCI Championship, August 14-18, 1979, in Birmingham, Alabama, the Kilts finished in 32nd place in Open Class prelims out of 43 competing corps. The Kiltie Kadets competed for their first time at a DCI Championship and they placed fifteenth out of the 18 corps that competed in Class A prelims. Only the top five corps from Class A prelims competed in finals for the Class A championship. Also, the Kiltie Kadets entered members in the DCI individual and ensemble competition with the following results: Kris Krug second in Baritone; Matt Nelson fourth in Soprano; John Stewart 26th in snare; while the Kiltie Kadets’ two percussion ensembles placed 9th and 14th. This was quite an accomplishment for these young 10 to 14 year old boys of the Kiltie Kadets as they competed against much older high school and college aged musicians in these solo and ensemble competitions. At the Cadet Corps International Championship in Middleton, Wis., on 8-26-79, the Kiltie Kadets came in second place. In a news release on May 15, 1980, the Kilts announced that they will not field a corps in 1980 and practices won’t be held again until next fall because of the economy, financial difficulties and lack of local participation. Also, the Kilts only had about 50 members which the Board of Directors didn’t feel was enough to field a corps with and still maintain their standards. The Kiltie Parents Club still continued to run its Bingo operation, operate the Horlick Field concessions, have a Kraut Festival booth and sponsor three drum corps shows in the area. The Kilts’ Board of Directors fully intended to have the Kilts back in the fall. The Kiltie Kadets, however, did field a corps and it turned out to be one of their finest corps ever. The Kiltie Kadets went undefeated in Cadet Class competition and did very well the times that they competed in Class A and Open Class. The Kilt/Kiltie Kadet organization sponsored two and hosted a third drum and bugle corps contest during the summer of 1980: Sponsoring the “Scottish Supersound” on July 13th at Racine’s Horlick Field and the “Kenosha Kavalcade of Music” on Aug. 2nd at Kenosha’ Anderson Field, and then hosting the 1980 Cadet Corps International Championship on Aug.23rd & 24th at Racine’s Horlick Field. The Kiltie Kadets left on a 9-day tour into the hot and humid southeast on Aug. 9th. One of the stops on this tour was in Jacksonville, Tenn., where on 8-11-80 the Kiltie Kadets performed in exhibition at a DCI contest there and they were warmly received by the 6,000 spectators. At the DCI Championship held in Birmingham, Alabama, Aug. 12 - 16, 1980, the Kiltie Kadets came in 12th place in the Class A/All Girl prelims. Twenty-one corps competed in prelims and because of a tie for tenth place, the top eleven corps made finals. The Kiltie Kadets missed finals by five-hundredths of a point or half of a tenth. They did, however, earn the honor of opening the Class A/All Girl finals as the featured exhibition corps. It was believed at that time that this was the highest finish ever achieved by a cadet class corps at a DCI Championship. At the Cadet Corps International Championship in Racine on Sunday, 8-24-80, the Kiltie Kadets took first place by over 7 ½ points over the second place Cavalier Cadets. The Kiltie Kadets placed first in brass, M & M, color guard, general effect and tied with the Cavalier Cadets for top drums. The trophy for the best drum major went to the third place Madison Junior Scouts. The day before on Saturday, 8-23-80, there were solo and ensemble competitions held in connection with the CCI Championship. Kiltie Kadets winning solo and ensemble contests were: Tom Stauss, soprano; Dave Fortier, French Horn; Kris Krug, bass baritone and Greg Stilson, snare drum. In Addition, both the Kiltie Kadets’ brass ensemble and percussion ensemble also took first place. Top triple tenor and mallet honors went to individuals from the Cavalier Cadets. The Cadet Corp International title capped a highly successful season for the Kiltie Kadets. The Kilts were reorganized in the spring of 1981 by their new Corps Director Jim Schiebenes. The Kilts were one of half a dozen corps that made it back onto the field after not fielding a corps in 1980. The Kilts marched about 70 mostly young, inexperienced members and although they made definite improvement from week to week during the summer, they were never able to rise above the bottom group of corps. Most people didn’t seem to care though, it just was so nice to have the Kilts back! At the Drum Corps Midwest Championship on 7-25-81 in DeKalb, Ill., the Kilts came in 18th place in prelims out of the 26 corps which competed. The Kilties finished in 14th place, which was last place, in Open Class prelims at the American International Championship at Butler, PA, Aug. 11-12, 1981. At the DCI Championship Aug. 18-22, 1981, in Montreal, Canada, the Kilts finished in 49th place, which was last place, in Open Class prelims. In 1981 Racine Zackula, age 12, became the third member of her family to march with the Kilties. Racine Zackula was acting as mascot of the Kilts for the summer. She played the bagpipes and also was a member of a bagpipe band in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas. She stayed at the home of Diane Olsen for the summer. The Kiltie Kadets were disbanded after the 1981 season thus ending the Kilts “life line” for talent. For 1982 the Kilts had a new Corps Director, Larry Kaczmarek. The Kilts were smaller than in 1981, marching only about 55 members, but they were about the same caliber competitively as the 1981 Kilts were. The Kilts ended up in 22nd place in prelims at the DCM Championship in DeKalb, Ill., on 7-24-82. Twenty- seven corps competed. The Kilts came in 35th place out of 43 corps that competed in Class A prelims at the DCI Championship in Montreal, Canada, Aug. 17-21, 1982. Financial problems silenced the Kilts for 1983 as they decided to sit the year out. The Kilts couldn’t continue to pay off its bills and field a corps at the same time. The Kilts fully intended to field a corps again in 1984 if at all possible. The Kilts Parents Club still maintained its Bingo operation sponsoring Bingo on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at Memorial Hall and holding other fund raisers to pay off its loans. Then on 6-20-83 the Marine First National Bank of Racine filed a foreclosure action in Racine County Circuit Court claiming the Kilts were delinquent on two loans totaling $17,239.25. The suit was filed against the Racine Kilties Parents Club, Inc., Kilts, Inc., and the three individuals who guaranteed the Kilts’ loans: Miriam J. Olson, George A. Lindstrom and Harry H. Rarick. The suit was seeking the amount of the loans plus immediate possession of the Kilts’ inventory of uniforms and instruments plus their three vehicles. “We do have a loan with the bank. I was not aware we were delinquent,” Dennis Otwaska, chairman of the Kilts board, said at the time. However, Marine First National Bank officials stated that the foreclosure was filed to protect their interest in the loans because they were told that the Kilts intended to file bankruptcy. On March 27, 1984 the Kilts announced that the foreclosure action that could have cost the corps its uniforms, instruments and vehicles was dismissed after a payment schedule was agreed upon for two delinquent loans. Dennis Otwaska, chairman of the Kilts board, said the Kilts would be making a decision within a few weeks on whether to field a corps or not for 1984. The Kilts decided to not field a corps again for 1984. Dennis Otwaska told the Racine Journal Times Newspaper in an article on 8-25-85 entitled “Glory Days Long Gone For Racine’s Famous Drum Corps” that as of now the Kilts were dead. That their instruments and uniforms had been sold and if the Kilts were to ever get started again, it’ll have to be from scratch. The Kilts Junior drum and bugle corps never did field a corps again. |