For about half of the existence of the Bluecoats, the season-ending banquet happened the day after Thanksgiving. It was a day of endings and beginnings, as the first rehearsal of the next season began the next morning. Mostly held at the (former) Four Winds banquets facility in northeast Canton, it was a time for everyone to dress up (for once) and to hug and cry and laugh and smile.

Long before there was social media and cell phones, when long-distance phone calls actually cost money, the Banquet ended a long “off season” where you had virtually no communication with your drum corps family. Out of towners would get a hotel room and arrive early (and stay up late). Other than perhaps move-ins, Banquet night may have been the most anticipated date on the calendar.

After a summer without drum corps, what does that next year look like? Well it’s something Bluecoats have had more experience than others doing. After a strong decade in the 1970s growing from a parade corps to a Class A nationally known corps, Bluecoats struggled to stay on the field in 1979 and then again 1983. 1984 was the third attempt to get a drum corps in Canton established, and the second comeback attempt in just four years.