Imperial Knights, Sudbury

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The Imperial Knights were a senior drum corps based in Sudbury, Ontario.

[edit] History

The Sudbury Imperial Knights started when a few enthusiasts,under the leadership of Gerry Dionne and John Scott, got together in 1963 in the northern Ontario city of Sudbury to form a competative Sr. Corps. For lack of funds and sponcorship, they bought used equipment and practiced in the washroom area of the local arena. At that time they called themselves The Justabouts, as they were just about a drum corps. Corps members raised funds and recruited across the Sudbury area, a city of 100,000. In 1966 they renamed themselves the Imperial Knights.

Within six years they grew to 75 marchers and a staff of instructors, L. Bangs percusion, G. Dionne Brass and J. Scott M&M.

The Knights began performing by marching in local and provincial parades, but always their goal was field competition. In 1970 they had their first competition ready marching and maneuvering corps. The corps’ field career lasted 7 seasons from 1970 though to 1976.

In 1970, the Corps first competitive year, they won the Ontario Drum Corps Association Provincial Sr. B Championships both for M&M and street parade.

This feat they repeated in 1971 and added the Canadian Drum Corps Association National Sr B Championships to their list of accomplishments.

In the winter of 1972 members Bob Bangs, Gord Fraser, Scott Murray, Greg Greenough, Peter Nowalanic and Gord Fraser won first place in snare solo, solo Tim-tom, and drum quartet respectively, they also won in drum duet and brass sextet at the Canadian Nation Individuals. In 1972 the Imperial Knights joined the Red Carpet Senior Drum Corps Association and placed 5th in the RCA championships.

1973 saw the corps competeing in the RCA circut and sponsored their first drum corps competition, "Northern Fanfare," in Sudbury. It was the northern-most location for any drum corps contest at that time. That year they placed 11th at the RCA finals.

1974 and 75 the Corps continued to be active within the RCA. They placed 8th and 10th at the finals those years. The Knights had grown to over a hundred members, had their own buses and practice hall, and were regular participants in contests in Ontario, New York, and Pennsylvania. At the Connecticut Hurricanes' winter Individuals in Bridgeport, Michel Regimbal and Greg Saville won first place in snare duet.

Once they had joined the Red Carpet Association the corps competed nearly every summer weekend and this began to take its toll on the members. The 3 rehersals per week and extreme distances traveled to contests (closest contest was over a 6 hour drive away and most were at least 10 hours) necessitated leaving Sudbury on the Friday night travelling all night to the contest city. Then it was practice, contest, and the party. Following which, it was back on the buses and travel to a secondary performance on Sunday, to help defray costs, and then return home. This became the usual. Many times they left after work on Friday and got off the buses Monday morning in time to return to work.

After the 1975 season a change in the corps' leadership took place with the resignation of Scott. 1976 was the last competitive season for the Knights with a 10th place at the RCA finals.

By the late 1970s, after 15 years of active competition and camaraderie, the Sudbury Imperial Knights disbanded. There was an attempt to revive the corps in the 80's but this was unsucessful.