Monday Memory: When a Viral Outbreak Stopped Bluecoats from Attending Finals... the First Time
Sometimes history does repeat itself. 2021 is not the first time the Bluecoats returned to the field following a virus outbreak in America. In 1976 an outbreak of virus labeled Legionnaires disease (named for the outbreak being connected to a Legionnaires convention) hit the east coast of the United States. The 1976 Drum Corps International World Championships were scheduled for Philadelphia, capitalizing on the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations in the location of our nation’s founding.
East Coast newspaper on the virus outbreak
The outbreak was limited in geography and its scope, far less deadly than our current virus and inflicted much less geographical turf. Most of the top drum corps in the country continued on to Philadelphia for Championship Weeks. But the fledgling Bluecoats? This was only their third competitive season in the DCI activity and there were many young members of the corps.
“We got cold feet with that virus,” said co-founder Ralph McCauley in a 2020 video reunion of 1970s members, “for insurance purposes, had something happened with the disease, that would have knocked us out of the box down there at the Police department.” The decision to pull the corps from Finals did not happen until the end of the season. Member Larry Rebillot remembers the corps “circling up” after the Innovations IN BRASS home show and it was announced that the season was suddenly over and the corps would not attend their first DCI World Championships.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Kevin Armbruster, an original member of the corps who also participated in the reunion call. “It was a hard pill to swallow,” remarked Mike Sanzone in the reunion call, “here we were on the roll and an up and coming group and suddenly something else was going to pop up and stop us from continuing on.”
Unlike 2020, an entire season was not lost but the impact of not going to DCI Championships and seeing where they stood in the activity across the country was hard. But like the 2021 Bluecoats, the 1977 Bluecoats rebounded with a strong program and this time completed the season, including their first trip to DCI Championships in Denver, Colorado, placing 33rd. The following season the corps won what would today be considered a regional championship at the American Open in Butler, Pennsylvania in Class A and finish 28th.
