Brookhaven Crusaders
From DrumCorpsWiki
The CRUSADERSof Brookhaven, Pennsylvania were a junior corps organized and chartered in February of 1964 by the Parents Association of Brookhaven.
In 1965 the corps took the field of competition, competing in the National Association Circuit. By 1967 the Crusaders had won the National Association Championship in Reading, PA at the Municipal Stadium.
In the corps short history, it won PA state championships, the 1970 Eastern States Association Championship, the Distlefink Invitational Championship three consecutive times. The corps competed in several national competitions, but never made the finals of any of these events.
After the 1971 season, internal strife caused many of the members to leave the corps. These members went to a nearby corps. A move which proved to be successful for them as they eventually merged with another corps to become the Crossmen. The Crusaders never recovered from the mass exodus of talent that left after the 1971 season and after many attempts at fielding a successful corps failed, the corps disbanded in 1976.
The Crusaders prided themselves on providing its' audiences with an entertaining show while striving to maintain the military precision necessary to win under strict VFW rules.[[1]]This link will take you to a video of the 1970 Eastern States Championship performance.
The corps director for the entire existence of the corps was Mr. David Clark.
Some notable drum corps personalities that were associated with the Brookhaven Crusaders are listed below:
Joe Marello, (DCI Hall of Fame), percussion instructor for most of the corps existence.
Ray Eyler, Horn arranger and instructor
Truman Crawford Horn arranger
Danny DiQuattro instructor under Truman Crawford
Rich Lucia horn instructor
Carl Slagely horn arranger and instructor.
(There were two other instructor whose names escape me. One was also the instructor/arranger for the 507 Hornets and one was an arranger from southern New Jersey.)
Al Lucia wrote and taught the drill for many years
Ralph Pace followed for a couple of years
Howard Clark and Anne Marie Clark designed and wrote drills for several of the corps final years.
Thom Hannum, noted DCI percussionist got his start in the Brookhaven Crusaders when he was just ten years old. Ted Brehoney arranger and instructor for Crossmen also started in Brookhaven Crusaders.
The corps colors were; green, gold, and white.
I was proud to be a charter member of the corps.
