by Jeff Helgeson

“The glide,” a “brassyswing sound,” the only drumcorps to ever win threenational championshipswithin a single year -- thestory of The ChicagoRoyal Airs is really more oneof an espirit de corps or whatmight be termed anorganizational culture thanit is one of a style of

performance or a mere list ofaccomplishments.

Although “The Big Blue” has frequentlybeen described as having been “the greatestcorps of all time,” for its members, the RoyalAirs experience was always one of belongingand participating in something that wasmuch larger than the contributions of itsindividual members, something that was fargreater than the sum total of its parts.

The origin of this sense of involvementwithin greatness is probably something thatcannot be fully characterized. If the essenceof that experience could be captured, manyone-time Royal Airs would have repackagedthe commodity, franchised it and made itwidely available. That has not happened.

Instead, although the style and theinnovations of the Chicago Royal Airs havebecome almost ubiquitous within modern

drum corps, the spirit of the Royal Airshas remained unique.

Of course, much of the character of theRoyal Airs was a direct result of thepersonality of the corps’ founder andpresident, Sie Lurye, a former professionalprize fighter, an 82nd Airborne veteran ofD-Day, a one-time nightclub owner, 1stWard precinct captain and businessmanwith numerous parking lots in downtownChicago.

Although he embodied the heart of theorganization, many others contributed tothe internal climate of the corps.Principal among them was the corps’business manager, Bill Evans, a formerBelmont Grenadier who many have feltpersonified “the brains of the outfit,” butalso extremely significant were GlenSmith and Richard Tarsitano, the corps’first music instructors, Norm “Puffy”Vitellaro, an early marching instructor;

Ray Kelly and Ed Roberts, the first druminstructors, and, most notably, LarryKaczmarek, the drill instructor whodeveloped the corps’ signature style ofmarching. Then, in 1963, Col. TrumanCrawford became music arranger andinstructor and, in 1965, three-time individualsnare national champion Mitch Markovichbecame percussion arranger and instructor.

It would be too easy to try to explain thecharacter of the Royal Airs as being a resultof the contributions of these particularindividuals alone, however, and the truth isfar more subtle and involved than anything

that could merely be attributed tothe fact that a uniquely qualifiedgroup of highly motivated peoplecame together and a kind ofalchemy occurred.

To make at least a good faitheffort at capturing some sense ofthe influences that produced theRoyal Airs, it is probably necessaryto start with an historical overviewof the evolution of theorganization and go on from there.

According to Ken Nolan, thecorps member generallyacknowledged as an accidental

catalyst for the formation of the Royal Airs,the story begins in 1954 when a notice wascirculated throughout Ryerson School inChicago stating that local American LegionPost 885, which occupied what had formerlybeen “The Famous” motion picture theater,was forming a drum and bugle corps andanyone interested could “come to the post forfree pop and hot dogs.”

The initial gathering had been organizedby Glen Smith (“Smithy” of Smith MusicSales, who had founded the Grenadiers sevenyears earlier) and a member from thesponsoring Alamo Post named Bill Ceronebecame the first corps manager.

According to Nolan, “There wassomething that kept members together” --something that came from theencouragement of a whole series of men andwomen whose names -- Szadowski, Cacioppo,Laskowski, Marcucci, Ferrara, Naples,Procanin, Ramelli and, later, Lurye --reflected the mix of Chicago’s west side atthe time.

“What mattered,” Nolan has said, was that“after an initial shake out, the balance of theremaining members became the nucleus ofthe Royal Airs.” To that nucleus, of course,many others were added, first from thesurrounding neighborhood and later fromthroughout the city, the Midwest andultimately the entire United States.

Rehearsing once a week from eight in themorning until one in the afternoon onSaturdays and then parading through thestreets surrounding the post, the AlamoRangers wore dark blue overseas caps, lightblue shirts with “Alamo Post 885 Drum andBugle Corps” stitched on their backs and darkblue pants.

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(Top to bottom) The Royal Airs, 1960;on the starting line at the 1966 VFWNational prelims in Jersey City, NJ; on thestarting line at an Illinois show in 1965; theindoor finals of the 1965 VFW Nationals atMcCormick Place in Chicago, IL; 1966parade on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, IL(photos from the collection of theRoyal Airs).

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stripe and brown pants -- came in 1957,along with white bucks, purchased in massfrom a Red Cross Shoe Store, but the trulysignificant event to take place that summerwas the attendance of the staff and severalcorps members at the American LegionState Championship.

Watching performances of theBelleville Black Knights, Norwood ParkImperials and Chicago Cavaliers, Nolan hasclaimed, “changed” Lurye and that servedto change the Alamo Rangers in a way that,within the next year, would produce theRoyal Airs.

By the following summer, what had been afemale baton twirling team was transformedinto a color guard, the members of a malecolor guard being merged into the corps.When the original corps manager resigned,Lurye was appointed to the position. Theprocess of becoming had begun.

Tarsitano came to the corps as a bugleinstructor and Kaczmarek began teachingmarching. A tradition of late springrehearsal weekend camps was introduced and,

thatsummer, theRangersenteredthree shows.

“Thecorpsformed ourlives,” earlymemberPeteGennuso hasobserved,saying thatit created agreat workethic and itprovided anopportunity

for inner-city kids to travel throughout thecountry. Even parents who had never takenan interest in other activities got involved.

That autumn, Tarsitano and Luryearranged for the Humboldt Park boathouse tobe used for rehearsals and, the followingspring, an incident occurred which ignited aseries of events that created the Royal Airs.

One afternoon, Nolan, who was known tofrequently get himself into various kinds oftrouble, was being reprimanded by Lurye,

never a casual experience, and some membersof the Women’s Auxiliary took exception tothe way the exchange had been conducted.

At about the same time, there was ameeting concerning whether the corpsshould attend the VFW State Championshipsor appear at a function sponsored by the postat which Mayor Richard Daley had beenscheduled to appear.

The corps voted to compete at VFW Stateand a heated discussion of the two issues ledto Lurye’s dismissal, which then wasfollowed, as described by Carm LoGalbo foran article in the Bourbonnais Herald, bymembers Mike Sulka, Chuck Ferrara, BarbaraProcanin and Bonnie Krupinski, along withdrum major Marlene Gamberale and KenNolan, leading corps members outside toburn their Alamo Ranger membership cards.

One week later, June 28, 1958, on thelawn in front of the Humboldt Parkboathouse, all but two of the former membersmet with Lurye and a new drum corps wasformed. Names were drawn from a hat.

At Friday rehearsals and after-practicegatherings for pizza and beer, Bill Evans andLarry Kaczmarek worked out the drill onmember Amatore Menley’s dining room tableand, on Tuesday evenings, Rich Tarsitanocame over to write the music, Ronnie Rendektaking notation, while Ami pumped air intothe accordion used for a keyboard.

Loans were secured by the businesses ofLurye and Angelo Naples (father of futuredrum major Judy Naples), along withsponsorships obtained from Cicero AmericanLegion Post No. 96 and, somewhat later, thePatrick T. Hallinan VFW Post.

Following a 25th-place finish at theAmerican Legion Nationals that summer inChicago, the corps continued to practice inrehearsal space acquired in a pair of storefronts at Division Street and MonticelloAvenue, although Nolan left to play baritonefor the Cavaliers after having been thrownout of the corps for starting a group ofmembers tossing cigarettes into an aquariumthat killed $300 worth of tropical fish.

Then, in December, an event took placethat would forever affect the Royal Airs andgreatly contribute to the organization’s spiritand deep sense of commitment.

At 2:00 PM on December 1, 1958, a smallfire began beneath a stairwell at Our Lady ofthe Angels Catholic School. As described inThe Chicago Tribune, “After smoldering forseveral minutes, the blaze shot up like acannonball into a crawl space above the

second floor and thenburned its way throughto the classroomsbeneath.” The firedepartment was calledas parish priests andneighboring residentshelped evacuate thestructure.

Approximately onehour later, the blaze wasbrought under control.Three nuns and 87

children perished that day and, during thefollowing months, five more children died.Among the dead were three foundingmembers of the corps: Frances Guzaldo,Roger Ramlow and Valerie Thoma. Survivorsof the fire included two eventual drummajors, Mike Ramelli and Surge Uccetta.

The effect of the Our Lady of the Angelsfire on the corps was profound. On the firstSunday of December, for as long as the RoyalAirs existed, including its reunion years,members of the corps assembled at the shrineof Our Lady of the Angels to hold acommemorative service and place a wreath atthe monument in Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

In further commemoration, a memorialflag was made that has been carried duringevery appearance of the Royal Airs and amoment of silence was observed prior toevery on-field appearance.

The corps’ motto, “Faith, Honor andHumility,” was also reflective of the sense ofremembrance that grew from this loss.

Responding to the OLA tragedy withintensified resolve, the Royal Airs won the1959 Winter Carnival championship in St.Paul, MN. The following day, the corpsserved as escort to the carnival’s parademarshal, Texas John Slaughter from WaltDisney Productions, marching before anestimated 200,000 spectators.

The true significance of this event,however, was attention it gained from a groupof future Minnesota members, including Joe“Caesar” Swierczek, the 1961 VFW NationalChampion soprano soloist; Jack Rosner; RonSelby; Tom Hicks; Dick “Mouse” Geis; WallyMarx; Noel Mertz; and 1966 VFW NationalChampion solo soprano John Aslakson.

Among the contributions made by thisgroup to the spirit of the corps, both on andoff the field, was the commission of apainting by Ron Van Gilder depicting the1965 Royal Airs’ color presentation as itwould have looked at Chicago’s Soldier Fieldhad the competition not been moved toMcCormick Place because of rain.

However, surrounded as the corps hall wasby an urban environment in which eachintersection had its own gang with namesthat identified its “turf,” like “Chi-Saints” forChicago and St. Louis Avenues, and“Chi-Cens” for Chicago and Central Park,recruitment for Lurye was not restricted tothose already introduced to drum corps.

Rather, as his daughter, Jackie Lurye-Borrelli, has remarked, he would go up toteens and bring them in from the streets.

The Royal-Airs at the 1963 American Legion Nationals in MiamiBeach, FL (photo from the Royal Airs).

Long-time director Sie Lurye makes apoint at a reunion picnic (photo from theRoyal Airs).

The Royal Airs at the1968 VFW Nationals in Detroit, MI (photo from the Royal Airs).

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For example, former member PhilAbraham was quoted in a newspaperarticle as asserting that Lurye hadpulled him out of jail to get him intothe corps, saying, “He told me I wasn’tgoing to mess up my life and Sie was aperson you didn’t argue with.”

In this spirit of active communityinvolvement and striving for excellence,the corps sought to build a reputationthrough individual and full-corpscompetitions as well as appearances atChicago’s Riverview amusement park,the opening of the 1959 World’s Series,a televised performance at a John F.Kennedy election rally and closing ofthe Pan-American Games.

Another notable incident was ananonymous “disturbing the peace”complaint that resulted, following themembers’ vote to continue rehearsing,in the threatened arrest of the entirecorps. Informed that 15 paddy wagons wereneeded to take everyone to jail, but weren’tavailable, the police took Lurye and six “ringleaders,” aged 11 to 17, into custody.

Later, in court, charges were droppedwhen a newspaper article pointing out thevalue of the corps in reducing juveniledelinquency was introduced into evidence.

Also, as described by Bob Doran on theRoyal Airs’ Web site, the corps changed itslook from former Grenadiers uniforms to the“uniforms that were to become its trademark-- slanted blue and white shakos, blue pantswith a white stripe and white battle jacketswith a blue sash and red accents” which wereliterally “unveiled” at the Skokie Indian’s“Music In Motion” show when the corps tookthe starting line in “white butcher coats thatwere removed just prior to step-off,”dramatically revealing the new look.

Placing last, in a gesture that Nolan (therethat evening as a Cavalier) has said made himproud, the “Big Blue” returned to the startingline and, as a demonstration of the characterwithin the corps, repeated its full show. Anew sound and a new marching style, as wellas a new attitude toward performance, hadalso begun to emerge.

Tarsitano provided a repertoire of loud,brassy pieces that ranged from such top 40songs as Venus and Diana to classicalmelodies by Chopin, Broadway tunes andeven original compositions.

At the same time, Kaczmarek had beenperfecting a marching style that caused thecorps to almost seem to glide across thegrass, threading an imagined line with eachstep and smoothing out the appearance of thecorps in motion.

Added to this was a notion, or morespecifically a philosophy, presented by Evans,termed “the con.” It was an assumed attitudeof confidence intended to mask potentialerrors rather than allow attention to bedrawn to them.

Taken altogether, it was these threefactors, in addition to a number of traditionsthat were initiated by the membersthemselves (along with the influence of such

internal sub-groups as “The Riot Squad,” ledby Ferrara -- the guy who struck the matchto begin burning the Alamo Rangermembership cards; “The Malka Club,” agroup of “souvenir”-gathering percussionistswith a severed deer’s leg as a talisman; “TheUnion 13,” a collective bargaining blockestablished within the 1965 corps; and therival “sects” of “The Saint” and “The BlueBear,” which evolved during 1967), whichserved to comprise the spirit that contributedto the “mystique” of the Royal Airs.

Among the specific “practices” establishedby the Royal Airs membership, in addition tocarrying a secret, cased flag which was onlyunfurled after winning their first show andtwo blue battle axes acquired by The MalkaClub, was an extended process of fraternity-style pledgeship that began after the first ofany given year and ended with an evening-long initiation, followed by a unifying, latenight bonfire ritual of togetherness andmutual commitment.

It was during the period of pledging to thecorps that new members were taught theRoyal Airs’ style of close order drill anddeveloped a deepened sense of resolve to bothgain personal acceptance and rise to a highstandard of accomplishment.

Then, after three months of near servitudeto a previously initiated “master,” on thesecond evening of spring camp, three hoursof cold, wet hazing and an extended

individual integration led to acommittee-determined acceptance,followed by the opportunity toshower before attending thebonfire gathering.

Into that late night blaze,effigies of competitors, as well asnegative attitudes, were regularlythrown and, when the flames wereextinguished, each year, anewly-unified corps would moveaway from the ashes and a renewed“Big Blue” would be born.

The 1961 Royal Airs, inaddition to building upon previousaccomplishments, experienced tworemarkable things in a single daythat served to both create arecurring phenomenon for thecorps and teach a great lesson thatwas never forgotten.

Re-experienced in Bostonduring the late spring of 1965, with somefrequency throughout 1966 and then againalmost 34 years later in Osewgo, IL, there wasa kind of unexplained convergence of factorsin performance that many people havedescribed in terms like those used by KenKosmoski (the corps’ tallest-ever memberwho was the only pledgie to ever confront theinitiation committee in the interrogationroom) in an interview on ABC-TV about the2002 reunion corps: “It was truly magical . . .everything was damn-near perfect.”

The first time that “magical” senseoccurred was during the 1961 VFW Nationalsin Miami, FL. As founding members AmatoreMenley and Tony Laskowski have each said,“It felt like a dream; we couldn’t believe howthings came together.”

In Kosmoski’s description for thetelevision reporter, “audience membersstarted screaming and they were actuallypounding on the stands; it sounded likethunder when we were on the starting line

and, once we stepped off, it was just like ithad been 30 or 40 years ago -- magical.”

That day in 1961, a virtually unknownRoyal Airs converted this sense of magic intoa third-place finish in the preliminariescompetition and then the great lesson waslearned when the corps placed seventh at theevening competition.

As a result of that experience, theRoyal Airs would never again allow a mistake

A cartoon about the Royal Airs (from the collection of Jeff Helgeson).

The Royal-Airs at the 1968 VFW Nationals in Detroit, MI (photo from the collection of the Royal Airs).

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in pacing to “leave” the performance on thepractice field or in the preliminarycompetition. Instead, each appearance of the“Big Blue” would become a full-out challengeto exceed expectations.

At American Legion Nationals that sameyear, following a train ride on the Zephyr toDenver, CO, the Royal Airs finished in secondplace, just one and a half points behind theGarfield Cadets and almost four points aheadof the third-place corps.

The corps began 1962 by decisivelywinning the Mid-Winter Standstill held inChicago, scoring a full 12 points higher thanthe closest competitor. Then, ending theprimary competition’s prolonged winningstreak and unwrapping the previouslyencased Grenadier flag for the first time, BobWenderski observed in an article titled “TheCavalier Story”:

“A somewhat new corps had begun to givethe Cavaliers some serious competition. TheRoyal Airs of Chicago, although taken lightlyat first, soon proved that this was a hastymiscalculation by being the first corps ineight years to beat the Cavaliers four times inone season and secondly, by taking away theAmerican Legion State title from them, a titlethey had held for seven years previously.

“They also proved to the powers of theEast at the VFW convention in Minneapolis,MN, that they were not to be taken lightlythere either. The Cavaliers came in first,defeating the 12 best corps in the country,and the Royal Airs came in a solid second,giving the two top spots to Midwestern corps,something never heard of before.”

Of course, the closeness of the final scorescaused the outcome, for some, to remain amatter of intense debate: drums tied at 16.20;marching won by the Royal Airs by .05;bugles won by the Cavaliers by 1.30; andgeneral effect split, with one judge giving thecaption to the Royal Airs by .05 and the otherjudge giving the Cavaliers a perfect 10.00,creating a one-point difference betweenthe first- and second-place scores.

A further “interesting” incident occurredthat night when the Cavaliers membersaffixed pre-made national championshippatches to their uniforms before the scoreswere announced and, in response, theRoyal Airs refused to pass in review, latermoving into concert formation and playing afinal encore for those still in the stands.

For American Legion Nationals in LasVegas, NV, in 1962, Lurye chartered a planeso the trip wouldn’t cause unnecessary daysout of school. As related by foundingmember snare drummer Sam DiPrima, the3.967 point loss to the Garfield Cadets, whohad taken third in Minneapolis, 1.25 behindthe Royal Airs, was the result of a percussionscore for a drum section which hadconsistently “gone back and forth with theCavaliers for top drums in the country.”

Following the announcement of thatoutcome, as a suggestion of the level ofsignificance attached to the corps’performance, snare drummer Pete Gennusogave his sticks to a stranger in the stands and

never played again in more than 40 years,twice declining the opportunity to participatewithin the reunion seasons, even while beinga regular at the biannual reunions.

After the 1962 season, a number of newdevelopments were undertaken. Amongthem, as a way of maintaining the corps’out-reach tradition, was establishment of atraining corps under the direction of formerNew York Skyliners member and long-timeDrum Corps World writer Dan Feldstein.

Most immediately significant, however,was the affiliation of then-Air Force Drumand Bugle Corps music arranger TrumanCrawford with the corps. As described in aDCW interview published in 2002, Crawfordexplained, “I’d been impressed by theRoyal Airs’ method of marching and studiedit closely. Sie Lurye knew about my interestand started talking to me. He was a veryeffective talker . . . so I came to Chicago.”

Initially, the intention had been forTarsitano to continue as the horn instructor,with musical arrangements being provided byCrawford. However, feeling that he wouldprefer to continue writing and teaching hisown arrangements, Tarsitano chose toassume those duties with the Chi-Angels andthe Morton Grove Cougars and resigned fromthe Royal Airs.

As subsequent solo squad member TomDiPrima has observed, “If there was atransition year, it was 1963.” In addition tothe change of instructors from Tarsitano toCrawford, a large number of foundingmembers aged out and were replaced by anew group from the city’s south side, withyounger members from the previous yearsbeing promoted to leadership positions.

The repertoire for 1963 opened with abold arrangement of the theme from therecently-released motion picture “Mutiny onthe Bounty.” This was followed by a flagpresentation to I Walk With God, a concertfrom the Broadway production of “Gypsy,”Saint Louie/Wabash Blues, Baby ElephantWalk and What Kind of Fool Am I as a closer.

On another level, following earlytraditions, the “B” corps assumed paradeduties within the neighborhood and thatsummer, DiPrima also recalls, “Snow wasspotted coming from the 22nd floor of aJersey City hotel” when hehad gotten into a pillowfight and lost, a firstinstinct being “to toss theevidence out a window.”

In 1964, afterpurchasing a new set ofLudwig horns -- withrotaries -- according toCrawford, the feelingamong the instructionalstaff had been, “Ah, whatthe hell, let’s go for it.”Having promised Lurye anational championshipwithin three years,Crawford has observed,“We almost made it intwo,” further stating, “It

took time for the judges to start tounderstand what the hell we were playing. Atfirst, they just went bananas!

“One of the biggest transitions wasutilizing all of the voices and not just thesopranos. Most of the drum corps of that erajust had their lead sopranos play 90 percentof the melody and the lower choir simplyfilled in chords. I didn’t write blockharmonies and it took awhile for the judgesto begin to recognize what we were doing.”

Although upsetting the Cavaliers in thefirst standstill of the season and later winningthe World’s Fair competition in New YorkCity, throughout 1964, the Royal Airs,playing Ballyhoo March (specificallyintended to show off the capacities of the newhorns), The House We Live In, HarlemNocturne, What Kind of Fool Am I, anextended Dixieland melody titled “The SouthShall Rise Again” and Where Are You,consistently placing second to the Cavaliers.

Then, at VFW Nationals in Cleveland, OH,when the Cavaliers were announced in thirdplace, the entire corps had the same “thrill ofvictory and agony of defeat” when theRoyal Airs were announced in second placeonce again, this time due to an upset victoryby the Racine Kilties.

As in Las Vegas, the loss resulted from onedrum judge not putting the Royal Airs first.The “B” corps also entered competition forthe first time that summer, winning in itscategory, ironically playing Scotland theBrave as an opener, and then the seasonended with a competition in Maywood, IL,that saw another transition when drum majorJudy Naples blew her final round of kisses tothe horn line following the Harlem Nocturneconcert and retired from her leadership roleuntil the 2002 reunion corps.

The Royal Airs in an Illinois parade, 1968 (photo from the Royal Airs).

The Royal Airs at the 1966 American Legion Nationals inWashington, D.C. (photo from the Royal Airs).

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The 1965 RoyalAirs, of course, earned aplace in drum corps history that iswell-documented. “The greatest drum corps-- ever” and other such descriptions havecreated a mystique that has clearly served todefine the corps in the minds of many.

With the intention of helping to addressany further concerns regarding thepercussion caption, Markovich was broughtin. The corps moved from its store fronts tothe former Conley American Legion post atNorth Avenue and Central Park andmellophones were introduced to a horn linethat initially consisted of just over two dozenreturning members and a few who had beenpromoted from the B corps.

Then, one Friday evening, the dooropened from the hallway leading toward thestreet and a line of guys with horn caseswalked in. The Spartans were coming. Thecorps Tarsitano put together by combiningthe Morton Grove Cougars and theChi-Angels had disbanded, a majority of itsmembers taking the bus down North Avenueto join the Royal Airs. In that one evening,the corps’ size doubled and the primarychapter in its history began to unfold.

Although only performed once at DrumCorps World’s Chicago Civic Opera Houseshow and replaced by Watermelon Man, thefirst piece of music to be passed out wasDon’t Rain on My Parade, featuring amellophone sectional solo. Chicago, fromthe motion picture “Robin and the SevenHoods,” was introduced as an openingfanfare, clearly as a result of the location ofthat year’s VFW convention, and then a newflag presentation was begun.

As Crawford has explained, “Sie Luryekept bugging me about getting anarrangement of Battle Hymn, so one day Isaid to him, ‘Listen, I’ll tell you what we’regoing to do. We are going to play JohnBrown’s Body and he starts yelling, ‘What thehell is John Brown’s Body?!’ I told him thatthe Royal Airs couldn’t play Battle Hymn ofthe Republic because the Cavaliers had beenplaying it forever and ever.

“Then, when he heard the swingarrangement during the first half of the tune,I really didn’t know what he was going to say,but he liked it.”

The concert for that year became Birth ofthe Blues, with a long opening soprano soloplayed by Jimmy Angarola, accompanied bySteve Fagiano on percussion. Then, thearrangement of “The South Shall Rise Again”was shortened to just Alexander’s RagtimeBand, with an opening mellophone soloplayed by Lou Klozik, accompanied by aquartet made up of national championsoprano soloist Scott Brockman, 1963 and1964 Illinois State solo soprano championsJim Angarola and Tom Devitt, and ChrisFerrara, who would also provide the bridge asa quartet at the center of the piece.

Then Watermelon Man and Where AreYou finished out the program, along withwhat have become the classic percussionsection solos of The Coffin before JohnBrown’s Body and The Seed before

Watermelon Man.In addition to the Civic Opera House

appearance, the pre-season included standstillcompetitions at which the results were farshort of expectations. However, the feeling inthe corps remained optimistic. At camp, JimAngarola approached the bonfire flames witha black plume that he had intended to wearwhen aging out at the end of that year, butinstead quietly asserted that he would alwaysbe a part of “this corps” and then threw theplume into the fire.

The field competitions began with defeatsfrom both the Cavaliers and the Des PlainesVanguard, although that was to change and asense of inevitability was to take over.

In June, the Royal Airs boarded the corps’two 25-year-old former Greyhound buses on aFriday afternoon and began a non-stop,overnight drive to Boston for CYO Nationals.As Crawford recalled, upon arrival there wasjust time to get dressed and tune the hornsbefore going on the field, but then aconvergence of factors took place and, inCrawford’s words, “That was a great show!After the CYO Nationals, we expected that wewould win and we did.”

The record for the rest of that year isperhaps best captured in articles writtenabout the corps at the time. After June 19 inPark Ridge, IL, at the Cavalier show, a DrumCorps World writer observed: “The Royal Airswalked away with the whole show.” In Dixon,IL, on July 3, “The Royal Airs topped fourothers by some five points.” On the racetrack at the Illinois State Fair, in Delevan andKenosha and Burlington, WI, in Des Plainesand Blue Island, IL, and at Illinois AmericanLegion State where the corps was describedas “the FAAAAAAABULOUS Royal Airs,fielding the greatest horn line in thecountry,” the “Big Blue” remained undefeatedafter returning from Boston.

Following a day of constant rain, with theVFW Nationals moved indoors to McCormickPlace and former members like LoGalbo,Ferrara and Nolan looking on, the DCWreporter wrote, “It was no surprise when theRoyal Airs were announced No. 1; they againtook high horns in the show and the ‘BigBlue’ had won every contest they enteredsince July.”

As Al Karls described that evening in anarticle in which he termed the Royal Airs “thegreatest corps of all time.” Everyone knewthat the Royal Airs would win. When it wastheir turn to compete, people stood on tables,chairs and the shoulders of others to catch aglimpse. Some climbed on scaffolding.There was a frenzy of pushing and shoving.People swayed to the sound of the music.Some sang along. Some cried.”

The next day, the corps began a non-stopbus ride to Portland, OR, defeated theGarfield Cadets by more than two points (theBeatles were playing down the street), thenstarted back to Chicago.

Returning to Illinois, the winning streakcontinued throughout the rest of thesummer. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C.,President Lyndon Johnson announced that

forces in Vietnam would be increased from75,000 to 125,000 and that the draft would bedoubled from 17,000 to 35,000 a month tosupport the war in Indochina, proclaiming,“We will not surrender and we will notretreat.” By September, the draft notices formembers of the corps had begun to arrive.

During the pre-season for 1966, a majorityof the previous year’s members had eitheraged out or entered military service. Autumnbrought the promotion of the entire B corpsand the integration of such former membersof the Giles Yellow Jackets as Roger Wardenand brothers Kirkland and Reginald “Sonny”Burke (four Platinum and two Gold albumwinner and music director for Broadway’s“Dream Girls” and motion pictures “SaturdayNight Fever” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”).

Ramelli returned to the baritone line fromthe drum major position, changing roles withKlozik. Contra basses were also introducedand a work ethic, born of necessity, wasestablished, consisting of almost nightlysectional rehearsals, intensive weekendpercussion camps under the direction ofsnare drummer Adam Szlagowski andmarathon drill practices that often began atdawn and continued until nightfall.

Without depth of talent, the 1966 corpsworked hard and often performed well beyondexpectations. Playing Those Magnificent Menin Their Flying Machines, John Brown’sBody, a Count Basie-style arrangement ofApril In Paris and What Kind of Fool Am I asa concert, Alexander’s Ragtime Band,Watermelon Man and The Shadow of YourSmile, the 36 horns, 15-member percussionsection and 20-member color guardamazingly came within one and a half pointsof retaining the CYO Nationals title and thenplaced inside a respectable five-point range ofthe winning corps at both the VFW andAmerican Legion Nationals.

The following year was very different. Tobegin, the young corps remained intact andwas joined by 10 former members of theMcHenry Viscounts at the beginning of 1967.A revised version of Ballyhoo March wasprovided by Crawford after the corpsmembers began playing the piece, completewith at triple-tonguing trio, on their own oneevening following rehearsal.

An arrangement of Of Thee I Sing,featuring an extended solo by Chris Ferrara,was brought in as flag presentation; concert,once more in response to the location of theVFW Nationals, became Do You Know WhatIt Means to Miss New Orleans?, followed byCasino Royale, Voodoo Moon and TheShadow of Your Smile again as a closer.

An amusing exchange between Lurye andDon Warren took place during the pre-seasonCivic Opera House show when the founder ofthe Cavaliers turned to his Royal Airscounterpart and pointed to the sopranosoloist during Of Thee I Sing, saying, “I knowthat’s Jimmy Angarola and he’s over age,” towhich Lurye responded, “No, that’s ChrisFerrara,” adding “Jimmy’s over there.”

The spirited culture of the corps wasclearly evident during a sudden downpour at

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Jeff Helgeson was amember of the Chicago RoyalAirs from 1963 through 1968.A graduate of the Universityof Chicago, he is the authorof a novel titled “Thresholds,”numerous articles and shortstories, and more than 15plays which have been

produced in Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Louis and New York.

Director of The LearningResource Center and a lecturer inthe liberal studies department atRoosevelt University, he has alsotaught in the creative writingprogram at Columbia College, at theschool of the Art Institute ofChicago and at the Frank LloydWright School of Architecture inSpring Green, WI.

He has additionally produced anumber of theatrical works,including "Urban Voices," ashowcase of performance poetry,and he has twice served as anorganizer for the National PoetrySlam when it has been in Chicago.

camp later that spring whenKosmoski led a continuation ofthe drill rehearsal, in spite of therain, proclaiming, “Ah, we’re wetalready,” and all 120 memberswent right along.

That year, a winning streakbegan in Plainfield, IL, duringlate June and continuedthroughout the summer all theway to August in New Orleans.With the Des Plaines Vanguard --as the Royal Airs’ closest rivals --and a small plastic blue bear thatcontra bass Don Sonne had wonat a carnival in Plainfield as agood luck charm and unofficialmascot, it seemed that a nationaltitle was once again within reach.

However, a superstition-busting practicaljoke in which the bear was carved into piecesand distributed “for luck,” like CommunionHost by mellophone Jeff Helgeson, the leaderof the rival sect of “The Saint” -- along withsome unexpected penalties from trying tosave execution tics by getting off the field assoon as possible without allowing forenthusiasm increased tempos -- broughtabout a fourth-place finish.

Then, after the long trip from NewOrleans to Boston and checking into aCatholic retreat house where a lay-brothernamed John inadvertently inspired a57-piece brass rendition of “Frére-Jacques,”a dispute about charging participants to seethe show after having performed causedLurye to withdraw the corps from AmericanLegion Nationals, instead having itsmembers, in uniform, watch from the stands.

What turned out to be the finalcompetitive season for the Royal Airs in 1968began with more changes. Crawford becamethe director of the U.S. Marine Corps Drumand Bugle Corps and, although continuing toserve as music arranger, turned theinstruction of the horn line over to EdCosalino.

Also, in the marching category,Kaczmarek’s responsibilities were assumed byKeith Stolberg and John Van Tessel.

The majority of the corps members,however, remained. A Spanish flavor wasestablished for the year’s showwith tunes like Vaquero forthe opener and Latina as aconcert. It Was A Very GoodYear was introduced as aclosing number with Of Thee ISing, Casino Royale andVoodoo Moon being retainedfrom 1967.

Markovich, who hadintroduced pitched bass drumsto drum corps in 1965, addeddouble-headed drums in 1967,then introduced on-fieldtimpani in 1968. TheRoyal Airs again accumulateda number of victories(including American LegionState and both the Illinois and

Wisconsin State Fair competitions) that, tomany, suggested another record-making year.It ended, however, with a fifth-place finish atthe Detroit VFW National Convention.

Once again, it was a timing penalty andthat prompted the VFWcontest director toannounce, had it notbeen for the penalty, theRoyal Airs would havewon the competition.

The final chapter --at least until thereunion corps’formation in 2002 --emerged quickly duringthe fall of the lastcompetitive year.Funding from sponsorshad been greatlyreduced as a result of astate of Illinoisprohibition on bingo and the corps’ efforts toraise its own funding through a substitutegame called “ducky” resulted in a police raidand the arrest of Lurye and seven others,each being released after posting $25 bucks.

Unlike in 1961, however, this time therewould be no bench decision in favor of thecorps. In a Chicago Tribune article, Luryesaid it “would cost $40,000 a year to get theRoyal Airs back in national competition” andthe sponsors “can’t support their own posts

since bingo was outlawed.” On the first Sunday of December

1968, for the last time until 34 yearslater, the members of the Royal-Airsassembled at Queen of HeavenCemetery and Taps was sounded forthe victims of the Our Lady of theAngels fire, as well as for theexistence of the corps itself.

Not until the year of Lurye’sposthumous entry into the Legendsof the Drum Corps InternationalHall of Fame in 2002 would anotherRoyal Air corps be seen, but thatyear, with members fromthroughout the history of the “BigBlue” from 1958 to 1968, alongwith a large group of first-timemembers, the Royal Airs did

appear again and the record of thatsummer’s accomplishment was clearlydocumented in such terms as those used in aDrum Corps World article titled “And StillChampions.”

The Royal Airs perform at the annual ceremony remembering the victims of the Our Lady of theAngels fire in 1958 (photo by Bob Scholl from the collection of Drum Corps World)

DCI exhibition, August 10, 2002 (photo by Ron Walloch from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Chicago Royal Airs Reunion corps at the 2002 Drum CorpsAssociates “Alumni Spectacular,” Labor Day weekend inScranton, PA (photo by Moe Knox from the collection of DCW).

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