Imperials 1972

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THE IMPERIALS HISTORY 

        The Imperials of Pembroke were organized in 1965 by the Pembroke Post of the VFW, under the direction of William  McSharry, Norman Robadeau, and Joseph Metzger. This young drum and bugle corps spent their first year learning music and how to march, while participating in a few local parades. They hired a young instructional staff and acquired equipment and inexpensive uniforms. 

        The Corps joined the Eastern Mass.  Drum and Bugle Corps Circuit for the 1966 competition season, as a Class C unit.  Their first contest was in Norwood, where their strong efforts earned them a fourth place finish.  The following week-end they competed in Rockland, where they took third place and brought home their very first trophy.  The Imperials qualified for the Class C finals that first season, and were moved up to Class AII for the following year. 

        During the next two competitive seasons, the Imperials developed into a top Class AII unit, and in September of 1968 they won the Eastern Mass. Circuit Class AII Championship. The following spring, the town of Pembroke honored the Imperials for their achievements in their first "Youth Day", which become an annual event.

        The corps was moved to Class AI for the 1969 competition season. The Imperials of Pembroke became a "household  word" in local drum corps circles. Progressing rapidly, the 1970 competition season saw the Imperials place second in both the Eastern Mass. Class AI standings and the finals.   They competed in some local invitations that year, finishing 17th in the World Open Preliminaries, and won the American Legion State Championship.  At this point, Mr. McSharry decided it was time to introduce the Imperials to the nation. 

        In 1971, the corps competed only in open shows and invitationals.  They travelled in August to Dallas, Texas for the VFW   Nationals, where they placed 17th out of a total of 35 corps.  That year at the World Open Preliminaries, the Imperials placed 19th. 

        The Imperials joined the Mayflower State Drum and Bugle Corps Circuit for the 1972 season, and have benefited by their association with this fine circuit since that time.  This season the corps won the American Legion State Championship and Junior Color Guard Championship, and the Mayflower Circuit Class A Championship.  They traveled to Whitewater,      Wisconsin for the first D.C.I. Championship, where they placed 17th.  Other achievements for the corps that year were,      C.Y.O. Nationals -- 10th; World Open Finalist - 19th place; VFW Nationals Finalist, Chicago, IL, 7th place. 

        1973 saw the Imperials rise to national prominence in the drum corps world.  The corps travelled to New Orleans, LA,   where they won the VFW National Championship, while also winning the Silver Drum Trophy for the highest drum score.      Locally, they won the American Legion State Championship and the Mayflower Circuit Championship, while placing as finalist in the D.C.I. East competition and the World Open, taking 5th place in the latter show. 

        1973 was the year the corps traveled to Canada to compete in three competitions.  They made the first two shows, but had to back out of the third due to fifty corps members with food poisoning.  The corps spent an entire night at Hamilton City Hospital, after eating at a "hamburger specialty house".   

        In 1974 the Imperials traveled throughout the East and Midwest.  They won the opening invitational in Weymouth and  then went to a bigger invitational at Troy, N.Y., where they placed 3rd.  The corps placed as finalist in D.C.I. East - 7th,      World Open -- 9th and the VFW Nationals in Chicago - 2nd.  They were invited to the C.Y.O. Nationals, placing 10th.   The  Imperials won the VFW State Championship and the Mayflower Circuit Class A Championship and were the undisputed top corps in New England that year, as they bested powerhouse corps such as the 27th Lancers, Cardinals, Boston Crusaders and St. Francis Sancians. 

         1974 was also the year the corps hosted the Anaheim, CA Kingsmen; travelled to Ithaca, N.Y. for the D.C.I. Championship; became the "Imperial Cadets" by joining brass with the Garfield Cadets at a great impromptu show in Ithaca; combined forces with the "Eastern Power" at the D.C.I. Finals; and appeared in new uniforms, while playing the "Big Band Sound". 

        1975 would be best characterized as a rebuilding season. The corps fielded a smaller edition in 1975, as there were many staff changes and the original membership -who had grown up with the corps- were aging out. The corps turned to show tunes this year, including selections from Mame and Man of Lamancha, and appeared in the CYO Nationals, World Open Prelims and finished 39th at the DCI Nationals. 

         In 1976 the corps rebounded with new energy, thanks mostly to an infusion of new talent drawn from the Imperials Jrs., and some talented staff editions such as John Powers on brass and Al Doran on color guard. The corps came out with a new style (departing from the Big Band sound of before, and the show tunes in 1975), playing selections such as Stan Kenton’s Malaga, Trepak, from the Nutcracker Suite and McArthur Park. This year, the corps solidified with a late season surge and passed the powerful new corps: North Star, at the VFW Nationals in NYC, by finishing 9^th. 

         After a strong 1976 season, Director, Arthur “Artie” Richards and the rest of management decided it was time for another big competitive push in 1977. The solidified staff from “76” advised that the visual program should be enriched and the preeminent Californian shows designers: Mike Moxley and Peter Emmons were hired to write the visual show.  These two gentlemen were at the cutting edge of show coordination. They were partially responsible for the Blue Devils’ and Santa Clara Vanguard’s success. Through their influence the Imperials got a makeover -both in show and in uniform. The show design was cutting edge and the traditional cranberry, grey and off-white in the uniform was changed to cranberry, black and satin white to imitate the style of many California corps of the day. The corps started out strong and was starting to do well competitively until regrettably, a financial collapse befell the corps and the 1977 Denver tour had to be canceled.  

           Epitaph: The unfortunate financial collapse of 1977 caused a great internal disillusionment within the organization. That crisis would initiate the process of the demise of the proud Imperials. This is a fate not uncommon to many other drum corps. The 1977 season was the last for the original Imperials. The Imperials Jrs., continued on for five more years and eventually became the new Imperials, but did not survive past 1982.

2002, A New Beginning!

After a hugely successful Imperials reunion in the summer of 2002, The Imperials Alumni decided to become an organization once again. A new Imperials Board of Directors was formed in October of 2002 and the board has been raising money and promoting the concept of a new Imperials since then.

The Imperials Board of Directors is happily to reported that after a successful Open House on December 14th, 2003, THEY WE'RE BACK!!!

2004

 The Imperials finally "hit the street" on July 4th, 2004, at the Hingham Parade!! It was the main goal for 2004 and it was a success. The corps also managed to appear in the Beverly, MA Holiday Parade to close out the season.  In 2004 the Imperials were proud to announce that they were REALLY BACK!

2005

Another winter saw the Imperials organizational growth continue into 2005. The Corps started rehearsing more often and more regularly and began to develop some young new talent and sharpen the more experienced talent. The equipment truck was completely restored to a condition we all are proud of.  The corps successfully participated in 4 more parades in 2005 and achieved a major goal of putting together a field performance for the DCA Mini Corps Competition in Scranton, PA on September 2nd, 2005! Getting back onto the field was a major step for the new Imperials and concluded yet another year of growth and successful stories.

2006

The Imperials are ready for the challenges of 2006 and are poised for more growth and fun as an all age drum corps and welcome all who wish to hop aboard a drum corps that is building in real momentum! We are a quality drum corps but we want to be a bigger quality drum corps. Stay tuned!!

2007

After experiencing initial success in the reformation of the corps between 2003 and 2006, The year 2006 turned out to be first transitional year of the second era. For the first time some goals set were not met and the corps opted not to perform at Rochester that year. This had to do with the corps experiencing a turnover in some of the membership at an inopportune time. But the corps still decided to make the trip to Rochester, to watch the DCA weekend festivities. The trip had a positive affect on our young members -who were learning the meaning of drum corps.  By September 2006 the corps had reached a crossroads where it would have been real easy to take one path and pack it in and give up, or take the other challenging road and press ahead.  As of this writing it is March, 2007, and the Imperials are happy to report that the more challenging path was chosen by the fine members -especially the younger ones. They decided that they were going to be the ones to push forward. As a consequence, the Imperials came through the challenges of 2006 not only intact, but stronger than ever! The membership has resolved to be there for the long haul and the revolving door of members which was existing has essentially stopped. The nucleus has never been better and because of it we are beginning to grow, in a more solid way we had hoped for. It is more fun than ever to be around this dynamic group. In addition, we finally purchased new real uniforms with hard cash and have hired the expert instruction of Bill Solari, on Brass and David Roy, on Percussion. We are now poised to return to the DCA weekend, vastly improved over 2005. We welcome all who want to continue with us in our journey!

Update: 9/4/07

Ladies and Gentlemen: Presenting to you, in competition, From the South Shore of Massachusetts, The Pembroke Imperials!

Adding more new history to the Imperials, the corps pulled off a very well performed show at the DCA 2007 Mini Corps Competition, in Rochester , NY on August 31. Appearing in their new uniforms the corps looked impressive and sounded very good as they captured 17^th place in the National Show. Going up against some stiff and seasoned competition, the Imperials held their own and showed that truly belonged amongst a group of fabulous Mini  Corps. The corps performed the Latin opener of Tiger of San Pedro and finished with fiery Spanish music from Estancia. The one thing people noticed was that the corps was the only one in this category which was comprised of mostly young people. Without exception, all the other groups in this show were all adults, over the age of 20, with far more average experience. The Imperials youth didn’t seem to matter much however, as they finished very respectably.

 After participating in the Mini Corps competition on Friday evening, the corps membership was treated to two more days of excellent performances at the Patec Park Stadium, a brand spanking new downtown stadium. It was a great experience for the new members as they got to see what all the Drum Corps excitement is about.  

It is now September and the Imperials are back from Nationals with a feeling of excitement and anticipation going into 2008. We are now in our 5^th year of reformation and we are feeling a bit of momentum. We look forward to the challenges that lie ahead of us as we grow as an organization. We welcome those who wish to be part of this fine group.  

John Stark – Director, Imperials Drum and Bugle Corps