Welcome to the History of the Racine Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps - Part 3: 1963 - 1975.
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History of the Racine Scout drum and bugle corps Part 3: 1964 - 1975
In 1964 the Racine Boy Scout drum and bugle corps entered a new era by reorganizing the Corps into the then new
national program of Explorer Scouting. The Corps adapted itself into a specialty Explorer Scout program and they
formed a musical Explorer Scout post. Explorer Scout Post 200 became one of the many specialty Explorer Scout
posts within the Racine County Council.
When the musical Explorer Scout post was formed, the boys doffed their official Boy Scout fatigue green uniforms
for the red, white and blue uniforms of today. Now officially they became the Racine Explorer Scout drum and bugle
corps, however they immediately became more affectionately called the “Chrome Domes” because of their shiny
new chrome uniform helmets.
1964 found the Racine Explorer Scout drum and bugle corps fielding a very competitive corps which placed in the
top three at many local contests including first places at the Mukwonago Lions Club Festival Contest and the Kiltie
Kontest in Burlington, second places at Cedarburg’s “Festival of Music”, Madison’s Zor Shrine “Drums on Parade”
and at Horicon’s “Marsh Days” Contest, while third place finishes included Menominee, Michigan’s “Drums in the
North” and a July 10th contest in Milwaukee.
Nationally in 1964 the Racine Explorer Scouts also were very competitive placing 8th at the New York World’s Fair
Contest and 14th at VFW Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio. Forty-five junior corps competed in prelims. A 2 point flag
penalty at the 1964 VFW Nationals in Cleveland cost the corps dearly as they would have taken 10th place in
preliminary competition without the penalty. The Racine Explorers then would have earned a spot in the 12 corps
finals. The Racine Explorers color guard took 3rd place at the 1964 VFW nationals. Twenty-seven junior color
guards competed. Racine Explorer Scout John Mathe won the junior individual tenor drum contest at the 1964 VFW
Nationals for the second consecutive year.
At the 1964 World Open held in Bridgeport, Connecticut the Racine Explorer Scouts took 13th place in prelims out
of 42 competing junior corps. Unfortunately only the top ten corps from prelims made the finals.
In 1964 the Racine Explorer Scouts also attended The National Boy Scout Jamboree in Valley Forge, PA.
1965 saw the Racine Explorer Scouts color guard have a very successful winter guard season capping it off by
winning the Midwest Color Guard Circuit Championship.
On February 27, 1965, the Racine Explorer Scouts performed along with other elite drum corps that were invited
from throughout the United States and Canada at Drum Corps World magazine’s now famous “Symphony In Brass”
concert at the Chicago Civic Opera House. A sold out crowd of more that 3,000 people jammed the Chicago Civic
Opera House to witness this event which was described as “the greatest drum corps spectacle ever to be staged in
the Midwest” by one writer in Drum Corps World magazine.
The summer of 1965 found the Racine Explorer Scouts a little down from the previous year but still fielding a very
nice, competitive drum corps. Some highlights include a first place at East Troy, WI “Galaxy of Stars” competition,
second place at Cedarburg’s “Festival of Music”, and third places at Horicon’s “Marsh Days” competition and in
Burlington at the “Kiltie Kontest”.
In 1965 the Racine Explorer Scouts placed 17th in prelims at the VFW National Championship which was held in
Chicago, IL. Unfortunately they missed making the 15 corps finals by 7/10th of a point. 54 drum corps competed.
Also, the Racine Explorer Scout Color Guard continued their string of third place finishes in junior color guard
competition at VFW Nationals by taking third place again for the fourth consecutive year. 25 color guards
competed. Racine Explorer Scout Bill Adamsky took second place in the individual Bass Bugle contest.
1966 proved to be the Racine Explorer Scouts best year since the early 1950’s. They featured one of the finest
drum lines in the Midwest. Important victories for the Racine Explorer Scouts in 1966 came at the Badgerland
Association Championship, Wisconsin VFW State Championship and the Wisconsin American Legion State
Championship where both the drum corps and the color guard won their respective competitions at all three of
these contests. Other highlights include winning first place at the Plainfield, IL Music Festival, at Mayville, WI, and
at Beaver Dam’s 125th Anniversary Celebration’s Contest. Second places were earned in competition at:
Cedarburg‘s “Festival of Music; Deerfield, IL; Madison Zor Shrine’s “Drums on Parade”; Horicon’s “Marsh Days”,
Wausau, WI and at Janesville’s “ Parade of Champions”. A third place was won at the Racine Boys of 76’s “Drum
Corps Spectacular”.
None of these 1966 Racine Explorer Scout victories were easy either as Wisconsin was the most competitive that it
ever had been up to this time. In fact Wisconsin had four corps place in the top 18 in prelims at the 1966 VFW
National Championship: Spectacle City Mariners, 18th; Racine Explorer Scouts, 13th; Madison Explorer Scouts,
10th and the Racine YMCA Kilties, 8th. This was Wisconsin’s best showing to date at a VFW Nationals. Further,
Illinois had five corps in the top 18 who routinely competed against Wisconsin drum corps: Des Plaines Vanguard,
2nd; Chicago Cavaliers, 3rd; Chicago Royal Airs, 5th; Norwood Park Imperials, 9th and the Millstadt Crusaders,
17th. So competing in the Wisconsin - Illinois area during 1966 meant that corps routinely went up against these
nine national championship contending corps. So it was a very tough area to compete in!
At the 1966 VFW National Championship which was held in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Racine Explorer Scouts
took 13th place in prelims. 49 drum corps competed in prelims. Because of a successful appeal of a two point
penalty by the Madison Explorer Scouts after prelims, this moved the Madison Explorer Scouts from 14th place up
to 10th place. So rather than bumping a corps out of the finals which was originally supposed to have only 12 corps
in it, VFW Nationals officials decided in all fairness to let the top 14 drum corps from prelims now compete in finals.
In finals the Racine Explorer Scouts moved up one spot and finished in 12 place. Also, the Racine Explorer Scout
Color Guard took second place in junior color guard competition and Racine Explorer Scout Richard Anderson took
second place in the individual Soprano Bugle competition.
In 1967 the Racine Explorer Scouts hit the field of competition with another very fine drum and bugle corps. Without
a doubt the highlight for the summer for the Racine Explorer Scouts was their victory at the Racine Boys of 76’s
“Drum Corps Spectacular” on July 3rd. At this contest they were victorious over seven quality drum corps including
five who would go on later this summer to make finals at the 1967 VFW Nationals in New Orleans. The placement
results were: 1st place, Racine Explorer Scouts; 2nd place, Chicago Royal Airs; 3rd place, Des Plaines Vanguard;
4th place, Casper Troopers; 5th place, Belleville Crusaders; 6th place, Racine YMCA Kilties; 7th place, Louisiana
Stardusters and in 8th place, the Madison Explorer Scouts.
Some other highlights for the Racine Explorer Scouts in 1967 included taking first place at East Troy’s “Galaxy of
Stars” and at the “Kiltie Kontest” in Burlington, WI. Second place finishes were earned at Horicon’s “Marsh Days”
and at the Kenosha County Fair’s Contest in Wilmont, WI. Third places were taken at both the Wisconsin VFW
State Championship and at the Wisconsin State fair’s Contest.
Racine’s Mayor William Beyer proclaimed Friday, August 4, 1967 as “Racine Scout Day” in honor of the Corps’ 40th
anniversary.
The Racine Explorer Scouts did go to the 1967 VFW Nationals in New Orleans. In preliminary competition with 25
other corps they came in 8th place. This earned them a spot in the 12 corps finals where they took 6th place.
Recaps for the 1967 VFW Nationals finals showed that the Racine Explorer Scouts took 6th in M & M, 5th in Drums,
9th in General Effect and 10th in Bugles.
Of the 26 competing junior drum corps at VFW Nationals in 1967 only five of them came from the east coast with
only two of them making finals. Most of the other Eastern drum corps chose to remain on the east coast for the
American Legion Nationals which was held only three days later on Saturday, August 26th in Boston, Mass.
However, two drum corps did make it from New Orleans to Boston in time to compete at the American Legion
Nationals. They were the Chicago Cavaliers who won both of these national championships and the Blue Rock from
Wilmington, DE. The Blue Rock make for an interesting comparison, they took 7th place at the VFW Nationals and
10th place at the American Legion Nationals. Fifty-five junior drum and bugle corps competed at the American
Legion Nationals. It certainly makes for a strong case that the Racine Explorer Scouts were one of the top 15 drum
corps in the country for 1967 as they finished one spot ahead of the Blue Rock at VFW Nationals.
1968 again found the Racine Explorer Scouts fielding a wonderful drum and bugle corps. Wisconsin, however, was
again one of the toughest states to compete in. Six Wisconsin drum and bugle corps would go on later in the
summer to place in the top twenty in prelims at VFW Nationals in Detroit: the Racine YMCA Kilties - 4th, La Crosse
Blue Stars - 8th, Racine Explorer Scouts - 10th, Milwaukee’s Imperial of St. Patrick’s - 18th, Kenosha’s Our Lady of
the Holy Rosary Queensmen - 19th and the Madison Explorer Scouts - 20th. To make it even tougher Illinois also
had six drum and bugle corps place in the top twenty at VFW Nationals too: the Des Plaines Vanguard - 1st,
Chicago Cavaliers - 3rd, Chicago Royal Airs - 4th (tied with Kilties), Norwood Park Imperials - 12th, Belleville Black
Knights - 13th and Belleville Crusaders - 16th. With six drum and bugle corps placing in the top twenty, this was the
best collectively that the Wisconsin drum and bugle corps had done at a VFW Nationals. It would be duplicated
only one more time at the 1972 VFW Nationals in Minneapolis.
Some 1968 highlights for the Racine Explorer Scouts included a victory at Mayville’s “Cavalcade of Drums” and
second places at East Troy’s “Galaxy of Stars”, at the St. Paul Scout’s Contest and at a contest in Indianapolis, Ind.
Third places were earned at Horicon’s “Marsh Days”, the “Kiltie Kontest” in Burlington, at Janesville’s “Parade of
Champions” and at a Wausau contest.
Nationally in 1968 the Racine Explorer Scouts competed at the VFW Nationals in Detroit where they took 10th in
prelims and 9th in finals. Forty-four junior corps competed. Recaps for the 1968 VFW Nationals finals indicate that
the Racine Explorer Scouts took 8th place in both Drums and M & M and 11th place in both General Effect and
Bugles.
At the 1968 CYO National Championship held in Lowell, Mass. The Racine Explorer Scouts came in 10th place.
With only 14 junior drum and bugle corps in competition, this still was the largest CYO Nationals held to date in
terms of the number of drum and bugle corps that competed there.
The biggest news to hit the pulsating beat of Racine’s drum corps came out in January of 1969 when it was
announced that the Racine Explorer Scouts have opened up their color guard to girls 15years of age and older.
This followed the trend among drum and bugle corps nationally. By 1972 only three all male drum and bugle corps
would exist: the Chicago Cavaliers, the Racine Kilties and the Madison Explorer Scouts.
By March of 1969 it was reported that the Racine Explorer Scouts all-girl guard numbered 35 girls and that there
were more than 50 other girls on a waiting list to join.
The 1969 drum corps season pretty much turned out the way that highly respected writer Dave Shaw predicted in
his article which appeared in the June of 1969 issue of Drum Corps Digest magazine. As Dave Shaw predicted the
Racine Kilties did emerge as the corps to beat in the Midwest (and, as it turned out, in the nation too) with the other
“obstacles for the Kilties to overcome” being the Casper, Wyoming Troopers, the Chicago Cavaliers, the Des
Plaines Vanguard, the La Crosse Blue stars and the Racine Explorer Scouts.
Wisconsin once again proved to be a very tough state to compete in with four of its drum and bugle corps placing in
the top sixteen in prelims at the VFW Nationals in Philadelphia in 1969. These Wisconsin drum corps were: the
Racine Kilties - 2nd, Blue Stars - 9th, and the Racine Explorer Scouts and the Madison Explorer Scouts tied for
16th. To further make it tough to compete in Wisconsin, four neighboring drum also placed in the top eighteen in
prelims at VFW Nationals too. They were: the Chicago Cavaliers - 1st, Des Plaines Vanguard - 6th, St. Paul Scouts
- 14th and the Nisei Ambassadors from Chicago - 18th. Again in 1969 Wisconsin - Illinois was loaded with top notch
drum and bugle corps.
Some 1969 highlights for the Racine Explorer Scouts included capturing first place at Madison’s Zor Shrine “Drums
on Parade”, the “Kiltie Kontest” in Burlington, at the Mariner’s Contest in Milwaukee and at a contest in Spring
Green, WI. Second place was taken at the Chordalier’s full corps standstill contest in Milwaukee, at Mayville’s
“Cavalcade of Drums”, at Milwaukee’s “Northwest Festival”, at the Wisconsin American Legion State Championship,
at a contest in Walnut, IL and also at a contest in Sarnia, Toronto, Canada. Third place was earned at the Cavaliers
Contest in Chicago and at the Kenosha County fair’s contest in Wilmont, WI.
In national competition the Racine Explorer Scouts tied for 16th place in preliminary competition at the 1969 VFW
Nationals in Philadelphia and therefore didn’t earn a place in the 12 corps finals. Sixty-three junior drum and bugle
corps competed in prelims. This was the most drum corps that ever competed at a VFW Nationals.
However, at the 1969 American Legion National Championship the Racine Explorer Scouts did make finals. After
placing 8th in prelims the Racine Explorer Scouts also placed 8th in finals. Only eight junior drum and bugle corps
made finals; twenty junior drum and bugle corps total competed in prelims. In finals the Racine Explorer Scouts
took 8th in General Effect (G.E.), 6th in M & M, 7th in Bugles and 8th in Drums.
Another highlight for 1969 was that after marching Racine’s Forth of July parade the Racine Explorer Scouts then
went to Milwaukee to march in the Schlitz Circus Parade.
Big Racine drum corps news occurred again in 1970 which involved the Racine Explorer Scouts. On March 30,
1970 an article in the Racine Journal Times newspaper announced that the Racine Explorer Scouts and the
Kenosha Queensmen drum and bugle corps had merged for the 1970 season. It also stated that the combined unit
would compete under the name Racine Explorer Scouts. Apparently personnel loses experienced by both corps
would have made it impossible for either to field a corps. It was also expected that the Racine Explorer Scouts and
the Queensmen would revert back to separate drum corps again after the 1970 season. In the meantime the new
drum corps became the largest ever fielded by either the Queensmen or the Racine Explorer Scouts, with a total of
115 members. The Racine Junior Scouts and the Queensmen Squires, feeder corps for the two merged units,
remained active as separate drum corps.
1970 found Wisconsin loaded with more quality junior drum and bugle corps than ever before in its history. 1970
was arguably the pinnacle of the junior drum and bugle corps movement in Wisconsin. Seven of Wisconsin’s drum
and bugle corps place in the top twenty-two in prelims at the 1970 VFW Nationals in Miami, Fla. They were the La
Crosse Blue Stars - 4th, Racine Kilties - 5th, Madison Explorers Scouts - 7th, Cedarburg Thunderbolts - 18th,
Milwaukee’s Imperials of St. Patrick - 19th, Oshkosh Warriors - 21st and Milwaukee’s St. Matthias Cadets - 22nd.
This didn’t include the Racine Explorer Scouts who did not attend the VFW National Championship in 1970. I
believe that they also would have placed in the top twenty-two had they attended and competed in prelims at the
1970 VFW Nationals.
Probably the highlight of the year for the Racine Explorer Scouts was performing during half-time of the Green Bay
Packers football game in Milwaukee County Stadium on Sunday, October 25th.
The Racine Explorer Scouts lone victory in 1970 was earned at the Racine Ambassa”Dears” sponsored “Sights and
Sounds Under the Stars” Contest. Because of the stiff competition in Wisconsin and Illinois, the Racine Explorer
Scouts did not earn any other top three finishes that I could find. They mostly placed fourth through seventh in local
contests.
In the only national competition during 1970 that the Racine Explorer Scouts attended, they came in 8th place at
the first annual American nationals in Northbrook, Ill. This contest was sponsored by Drum Corps Digest magazine.
Because of large numbers of people attending Racine Explorer Scout rehearsals during the winter of 1970 - 71,
they had high expectations for the coming summer’s drum corps season. Routinely around 50 horns, 25 drummers
and 35 color guard would attend winter practices.
On Saturday, May 8th, the Racine Explorer Scouts performed an exhibition at “An Evening With The Corps” in
Milwaukee’s Civic Auditorium along with 10 other top Midwest drum corps. They received great reviews. This was
the first time that Drum Corps News, an East coast drum corps magazine, sponsored their “Evening With The
Corps” series of indoor standstill drum corps concerts outside of Carnegie Hall.
The Racine Explorer Scouts high expectations for 1971 never materialized as they opened the season with a 5th
place finish at Kenosha’s “Concourse of Champions”. Although one week later at the Cavaliers sponsored
“Pageantry of Drums” contest in Park Ridge, Ill. the Racine Explorer Scouts finished in fourth place edging by 7/10th
of a point their rivals, the Racine Kilties who came in fifth place. This was the first time that the Racine Explorer
Scouts had been victorious over the Racine Kilties since early July of 1967. It was also the last time that they would
ever beat their rivals, the Kilties. The Kilties rapidly improved and the 1971 season pretty much turned out like the
1970 season did for the Racine Explorer Scouts. They took mostly fourth through seventh place in local contests.
Some local highlights for the Racine Explorer Scouts in 1971include taking a first place at Mayville’s “Cavalcade of
Drums”, a second place at a contest in Wheaton, Ill., and third place at Horicon’s “Marsh Days” and at a contest in
Watertown, WI.
In national competition during 1971 the Racine Explorer Scouts came in 7th place in prelims at the North American
Championship held in Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee. This earned them a spot in the 10 corps finals where they
put on one of their best shows of the season and finished in fourth place. At the Mid-American Open in Overland
Park, Kansas, the Racine Explorer Scouts came in 8th place in competition with other excellent drum corps who
were all on their way to Dallas, Texas, to compete at the VFW National Championship. At VFW Nationals in Dallas
the Racine Explorer Scouts took 14th place in prelims and therefore did not earn a spot in the twelve corps finals.
Thirty-five junior drum corps competed in prelims.
1972 was the last year that the Racine Explorer Scouts entered national competition as a “Class A” or, to use today’
s terminology, as a Division I drum corps. At the North American Championships held at South Stadium in
Milwaukee on Saturday, July 8th, the Racine Explorers did not make the finals. Twenty-two corps competed in
prelims, however, only the top ten corps competed in finals. At the 1972 VFW National Championship held in
Minneapolis, MN, the Racine Explorer Scouts placed 7th in preliminary competition. This earned them a spot in the
traditional twelve corps finals where they took fifth place. Forty-two drum corps competed in prelims. Also, at the U.
S. Open in Marion, Ohio, the Racine Explorers made finals by placing eleventh in prelims. The top twelve made
finals. The Racine Explorers then finished in eleventh place in finals too.
Some 1972 highlights for the Racine Explorer Scouts include winning the 1972 VFW State Championship, winning a
contest on July 2nd in east Troy, WI, and placing second on July 1st at a contest in Fond du Lac, WI. Interestingly,
rather than attend the Wisconsin American Legion State Convention up in Green Bay on July 15th and 16th like the
Racine Junior Boy Scout drum and bugle corps did, the Racine Exploreres instead had a corps picnic at Lincoln
Park in Racine on Saturday, July July 15th. The girls in the color guard prepared the food while the boys in the
corps served the beverages. Then on Sunday July 16th, the Racine Exploreres traveled to Chicago and performed
in exhibition at a German Day Picnic.
At the Wisconsin American Legion State Championships in Green Bay the Racine junior Boy Scouts came in ninth
place in Class B preliminary competition. Only the top five made finals. However, the Racine Junior Boy Scouts
fared pretty well in Class C competition during the 1972 season. A couple of examples of Class C competition
results during 1972, the Racine Junior Boy Scout drum and bugle corps took second place at a contest in Oshkosh,
WI, on Friday, June 30th and they took another second place at the Wisconsin State Fair contest on Saturday,
August 19, 1972. So they appeared to be pretty competitive during the 1972 season in local Class C competition.
The Drum Corps International (DCI) era began in 1972, however, the Racine Explorer Scouts chose not to become
involved with them. Although continuing to still compete as a “Class A” or Division I drum corps through 1974, the
Racine Explorer Scouts chose to compete only on a local level in non-DCI competitions.
In 1973 the Racine Explorer Scouts visited California where they performed at Disneyland for the second time. On
their way out West they stopped in La Crosse, WI, on Saturday, June 30th, to compete in the Wisconsin VFW State
Championships. With a score of 75.00, the Racine Explorer Scouts won the state VFW championship for the second
year in a row over the second place Appleton Americanos. In Class B competition, the Racine Junior Boy Scouts
took ninth place at the 1973 state VFW championship in La Crosse.
In 1974 the Racine Explorer Scouts had a hard time recruiting members. What wound up on the field in competition
for this organization in 1974 was known as the Racine-Kenosha Scout drum and bugle corps. They only competed
locally in Class B and small non-DCI competitions. I could only find three contest results for them. At the American
Legion State Championships in Milwaukee on Saturday, July 19th, 1974,the Racine-Kenosha Scouts scored 10.05
points and placed 8th (Last place) in Class B competition. The next day, Sunday, July 20th, 1974, at the Racine
New Day - New Dawn Drum and Bugle Corps Contest at Horlick Field, the Racine-Kenosha Scouts scored 29.4
points to finish in ninth place. (Last place) Then at the "Vibrations '74" Contest in Oshkosh, WI, on Sunday, August
11th they scored 37.80 for fifth place. (Last place)
After talking about merging with the Greendale, WI, Mariners Drum and Bugle Corps, the Racine Explorer Scout
Drum and Bugle Corps decided not to merge, but to continue on its own despite its small membershhip. The Racine
Explorer Scouts re-organized as a parade unit for 1975. One highlight for the Racine Explorer Scouts in 1975 was
their second place finish for best appearing drum and bugle corps in the annual Flag Day parade competition in
Waubeka, WI. More than 100 Bands, Drum and Bugle Corps Corps, Color Guards, Drill Teams and other special
marching units participated and competed for various prizes in the 1975 Waubeka, WI, Flag Day parade.
The Racine Explorer Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps put on an exhibition at their own contest, "Music on the March"
at Racine's Horlick Field on Friday, July 11, 1975 and at Racine's Drum Corps Day Celebration on Thursday, July
24, 1975. Membership was increasing throughout the summer and the drum corps was optimistic about fielding a
competing corps in 1976.