Time Machine: Cedar Rapids’ drum and bugle corps

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Playground Drum and Bugle Corps was the first of a series of junior corps (for boys between 10 and 18) in Cedar Rapids. The corps was organized in 1927 by veteran Des Moines-area drum and bugle corps instructor and drill master Jack Fromm. Each of the original 22 boys paid a $5 fee for bugles and drums. Other costs were paid by parents or through fundraising.

The Playground Corps grew to 40 boys by 1928, exchanging the word 'playground” for 'boys” and marching in area parades, even making an appearance at the State Fair in Des Moines. The group also acquired the sponsorship of the Hanford American Legion post.

The Cedar Rapids Boys Drum and Bugle Corps greeted Herbert Hoover when he visited his birthplace in West Branch during the 1928 presidential campaign. Because of that, he requested a photo of the group. A delegation delivered it to him in June 1930 in Washington, D.C.

From 1931 to 1934, the group competed at the Chicagoland Music Festival in Chicago, coming away with two second-place and two third-place awards, despite losing drum major Ben Carns, a six-year veteran of the corps, in 1932. The group also lost its director in 1933, when Jack Fromm decided to concentrate on the Veterans of Foreign War-sponsored Musketeer Drum and Bugle Corps that he had been directing since 1931. The Musketeer boys were between eight and 16. Stanley Vesely took over the Cedar Rapids group.

The Chicagoland contest in 1934 featured both units. Fromm's 69-piece Musketeers took first place and Vesely's 60-piece unit placed second.

In June 1935, the Cedar Rapids Boys Drum and Bugle Corps was merged with the Cedar Rapids YMCA Boys Band. The newly organized Cedar Rapids Boys Drum and Bugle Corps and Band was a 100-piece musical and marching unit.

The drum and bugle corps' first intersection with bingo fundraisers occurred in 1939. Two games, allegedly operated for the benefit of the Musketeers and the Cedar Rapids corps, were closed down following investigations by the county attorney.

The Hawkeye Music Festival at Hawkeye Downs in July 1939 featured the Cedar Rapids corps, but the VFW's Musketeers and the new all-girl corps, the Cavaliers, sponsored by the Cedar Rapids Moose Lodge, couldn't be there. They instead hosted a Battle of Champions at Belden Hill Park at E Avenue and 13th Street NW later that month. Thirteen-year-old Jackie Fromm was a majorette with the new group.

In the summer of 1942, Jack Fromm moved on to direct the VFW adult drum and bugle corps. R. Ariel Cross, the Cedar Rapids Boys Y corps director who had led the unit for seven years, entered the Army.

The First Hawkeye Tournament of Drums was set for June 1950 to finance the Cedar Rapids Boys corps, which by then had won seven national and two international titles. The group that held the distinction of being the oldest junior drum and bugle corps in Iowa changed its name to Cadets and, later, the Cavaliers. In 1970, it reorganized as the New Cadets.

The Emerald Knights Drum and Bugle Corps was formed in 1965 with 28 charter members, all boys between nine and 16 years old. Its distinctive name was chosen July 12 by 'the recently organized Drum and Bugle Assn. of Cedar Rapids,” according to a Gazette article. W.P. (Bill) Matus was appointed director of the corps. Applicants didn't need to have an instrument or even know how to play. 'Boys are furnished with instruments free of charge, with lessons available at a nominal fee.”

Predictably, boys preferred to play drums for the corps and organizers were still looking for buglers well into September. The Emerald Knights' first parade was for Fire Prevention Week in October 1965.

The self-sustaining unit accepted donations and raised funds through rummage sales, bake sales, candy sales and eventually bingo games. In 1967, the enterprising youngsters petitioned the City Council to paint house numbers on curbs for a moneymaking project.

The Emerald Knights had performed in a number of venues around Cedar Rapids, but its first competition was at the Cedarburg, Wis., festival of music in June 1967. They place fourth in the C division. New black and emerald uniforms arrived shortly after that.

In 1968, an all-girl color guard joined the unit, now 70 members strong. Bill Matus resigned and Bill Dimmitt took over directing the corps.

The Emerald Knights became inactive in 1979, but struggled to get back on its feet in 1980 with new funding and a five-year lease on the former Handler Motor Co. building at 712 Second Ave. SE. New uniforms came in 1981. It was open to boys and girls from 13 to 21. It lost its footing again in 1985.

In 1991, longtime Emerald Knight corps member, teacher and director Matt Daugherty became director of the re-formed corps, the Nite Express, specializing in Blues Brothers music. It boasted 65 members aged 15 to 21. After a successful run, it disbanded in 1996.

The Emerald Knights resurrected for one season in 2001, marching in the Freedom Festival parade and hosting the Tournament of Drums.

This year, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Emerald Knights, the group's alumni corps will play July 27 at the Tournament of Drums at Kingston Stadium.