File: Great Bend Argonne Rebeles Drum and Bugle Corps
Argonne Rebels Location Great Bend, Kansas Division Open Class Founded 1947 Folded 1984 Championship titles American Legion Nationals Champion 1971-72 in competition 1973 by proclamation Argonne Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps The Argonne Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps (also known as "Argonne" or "The Rebels") were an Open Class (a distinction now known as World Class) competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Great Bend and Barton County, Kansas, the Rebels were one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International. [1] History Show summary (1962–84) See also Notes References External links In August 1947, musician John Taff and the Rev. Joseph Tockert of the St. Rose Catholic Church started a drum and bugle corps for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the St. Rose Parish to operate under the sponsorship of the Knights of Columbus. The corps had its first public performance on November 26, 1947. When American Legion Argonne Post 180 took over the corps' sponsorship in 1949, membership was opened to all area youth, and the name was changed in recognition of the Legion Post, which had been named after the Argonne Forest, the site of major U.S. military action during World War I. In 1955, Bill and Mary Lou Fryberger became the corps directors for several years. Shortly after the Frybergers left, Glenn Opie [notes 1] became the corps director, a post he would hold through 1973. In 1974, Jenny and Bob Allford were codirectors of Argonne. H.Gene Specht became the director in 1975 and 1976. Jerry and Jan Becker became corps directors in 1977 and would continue until Argonne folded in 1988. [1][2][3] Argonne competed with others in the Great Plains area in the 1950s and 1960s. They also competed in numerous VFW and American Legion, championships, and, in 1955, the Rebels won the first of thirteen Kansas State American Legion championships. From the mid-1950s, Argonne was also a major corps on the national scene. They were a finalist in the American Legion Nationals in 1955, '56, '61, '63,[notes 2] '65, '71, and '72; a finalist at VFW Nationals each year from 1968 through 1972; and were Legion National Champions in 1971, '72, and '73.[notes 3][1][2][3] In 1971, two organizations were started with the intent of giving drum corps more control over their activity, which was then largely governed by the veterans organizations. The Midwest Combine was made up of the Blue Stars, Cavaliers, Madison Scouts, Santa Clara Vanguard, and the Troopers; and the United Contents History Organization of Junior Corps (also known as the "Alliance"), was formed by the 27th Lancers, Garfield Cadets, Boston Crusaders, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, and Blue Rock. In 1972, the ten corps from the Midwest Combine and the Alliance were joined by the Anaheim Kingsmen, the De La Salle Oaklands, and the Argonne Rebels as founding members of Drum Corps International (DCI), which remains as the sanctioning body for junior corps in North America. At the first DCI World Championships, held in Whitewater, Wisconsin on August 17 and 18, 1972, the Argonne Rebels finished in fifth place. The brass was instructed by Sandra Opie [notes 1]
and was considered to be the premier brass section in drum corps; on
several occasions, they received a perfect score of 5.0 for Content Analysis. [1][2] In 1973, the expectations for Argonne were extremely high; not only had the corps finished in fifth place at DCI, but most of the members would be returning for the new season. When the expected new musical arrangements were not received from the arranger, the corps turned to Frank Minear, lead trumpeter for the Stan Kenton band, who had offered to write charts for the corps. Minear's arrangements of "Fanfare For The New" and "Málaga" were transcriptions straight from the Kenton band's arrangements. When combined with Ken Norman's arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever", the 1973 Argonne Rebels had what was almost unquestionably the most technically complex musical program that had ever been performed by a drum and bugle corps up to that time. Unfortunately, although things were changing under the new Drum Corps International, technical difficulty was not yet taken into consideration in judging a corps' performance. Additionally, the arrangements made getting the sounds to the fans in the stands in proper synchronization difficult at best, so that the field show was redesigned in mid-season by Drum Corps Hall of Fame senior corps designer Vince Bruni. Although Argonne would finish in eleventh place at DCI World Championships at Whitewater, the season was a disappointment for the members whose early expectations had been so high. Although future DCI Hall of Fame members Truman Crawford, Bernard Baggs, and Don Angelica addressed the corps immediately after the show and attempted to console the members, the corps would never recover from the blow. [1][2] With the Opies' departure from the corps and Sandra Opie's move from instructor to judge, the corps' brass would never again approach its excellence of the early 1970s. In 1974, Argonne would drop to thirty-third at DCI. The corps would recover somewhat, finishing twentieth in 1975 and eighteenth in 1976, but it would fall to the lower levels of Open Class in 1977, '78, and '79 and would cease operations following the 1979 season. The Argonne Rebels would return as a Class A corps in 1983 but would leave the field for good following the 1984 season.[1][2][3] Although the Argonne Rebels have not been in field competition since 1984, its organization still exists to serve the alumni, since more than 3,000 youth from Great Bend and Barton County marched in the corps during its more than forty years of competition.[4] During the Summer of 2015, a special exhibit remembering the Argonne Rebels was presented at the Great Bend Public Library. It was created under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution's “Museum on Main Street” program and is sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council. Additionally, a reunion of Argonne Rebels alumni was held on July 11, and on the 14th, the annual Drum Corps International show "Drums Across Kansas" moved from Wichita to Great Bend and renamed the "March of Champions" to honor the two-time American Legion champion corps and its alumni. [5] "Results": AL = American Legion; VFW = Vets of Foreign Wars; 1973 - 1979 = DCI Show summary (1962–84) Year Theme Repertoire Score Result 1956 3 AL 1961 6 AL 1962 Everything's Coming Up Roses (from Gypsy) Get Me To the Church on Time (from My Fair Lady) Slaughter on 10th Avenue (from On Your Toes) I Believe 1963 10 AL 1964 Who Will Buy (from Oliver) This Could Be the Start of Something Big Night and Day Put On A Happy Face Stars and Stripes Forever The Big Country 4 AL 1965 Who Will Buy (from Oliver) This Could Be the Start of Something Big Stars and Stripes Forever I Could Have Danced All Night Show Me (from My Fair Lady) Get Me To the Church on Time (from My Fair Lady) Put On A Happy Face The Big Country 4 AL 1966 Those Daring Young Men In Their Flying Machines Stars and Stripes Forever I Could Have Danced All Night Show Me (from My Fair Lady) Get Me To the Church on Time (from My Fair Lady) Who Will Buy (from Oliver) Come On In Sit Right Down The Big Country 1967 Those Daring Young Men In Their Flying Machines America God Bless America (from This Is the Army) Bess, You Is My Woman Now (from Porgy and Bess) Summertime (from Porgy and Bess) I Got Plenty of Nothin' (from Porgy and Bess) Our Day Will Come Jubilation T Cornpone The Big Count 1968 Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines * America The Beautiful * God Bless America (from This Is the Army) * Bess, You Is My Woman Now (from Porgy and Bess) * Summertime (from Porgy and Bess) * I Got Plenty of Nothin' (from Porgy and Bess) * Our Day Will Come * Jubilation T Cornpone (from Li'l Abner) * The Big Country 76.25 10 VFW 1969 Barnum and Bailey's Favorite * When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again * Mission Impossible * Our Day Will Come * Take Me Along * Shenandoah 74.6 12 VFW 1970 Barnum and Bailey's Favorite * Take Me Along * Mission Impossible * Hey Jude * Our Day Will Come * Stars and Stripes Forever * Shenandoah 82.55 8 1971 Barnum and Bailey's Favorite * Heaven on Their Minds (from Jesus Christ Superstar) * Gethsemane (from Jesus Christ Superstar) * King Herod's Song (from Jesus Christ Superstar) * Crucifixion * John 19:10 (from Jesus Christ Superstar) * Stars and Stripes Forever * Shenandoah 87.35 1 AL 1972 Barnum and Bailey's Favorite * Jesus Christ Superstar Medley * Stars and Stripes Forever * Theme from Love Story 82.900 1 AL 5 VFW 1973 Fanfare For The New * Malaga * Stars and Stripes Forever 73.150 11 DCI 1974 Mass by Leonard Bernstein 65.300 33 1975 French National Defile by Jean Robert Planquette, Joseph François Rauski, and Andre Turlet / National Anthem by John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key. adapted by Stan Kenton / Traces by Buddy Buie, J. R. Cobb, and Emory Gordy, Jr. / Let's Hear It For Me (from Funny Lady) by John Kander and Fred Ebb 73.150 20th 1976 Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie / Fanfare For The New by Hugo Montenegro / Farandole (from L'Arlesienne) by Georges Bizet / Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 77.750 18th 1977 Repertoire unavailable 56.550 42nd 1978 New York City Rhythm by Barry Manilow and Marty Panzer / Mambo Tambo by Miguelito Valdés / Cantina Band (from Star Wars) by John 53.850 42nd Williams / Come Sail Away by Dennis DeYoung / Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa 1979 Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice / Mambo Tambo by Miguelito Valdés / Don't Cry For Me Argentina (from Evita) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice / Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa 62.250 36th 1980– 1982 Corps inactive 1983 Alexander's Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin / Battle Hymn of the Republic by William Steffe and Julia Ward Howe / Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock 32.350 31.000 10th Class A 47th 1984 Alexander's Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin / Battle Hymn of the Republic by William Steffe and Julia Ward Howe / Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa 51.000 19th Class A Mitch Markovich 1. Both corps director Glenn Opie and brass instructor Sandra Opie are in the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. 2. On the way to the 1963 Legion Championships in Miami, Florida, the corps stopped for dinner in Birmingham, Alabama, several members of the corps were attacked by a group of white supremacists because some members of the corps were African-Americans. Although one member of the corps required medical care, the corps continued to Miami, where they finished in tenth place. 3. After the Argonne Rebels had won the American Legion title in 1971 and '72, the Legion national convention was held in Hawaii. Since few, if any, drum corps would travel to Hawaii for the Nationals, they were not held, and the Argonne Rebels were awarded the 1973 American Legion Championship by proclamation. 1. A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vol. 2; Steve Vickers, ed.; Drum Corps World, pub.; 2003 2. "Argonne Rebels Drum And Bugle Corps, Great Bend Kansas" (https://web.archive.org/web/ 20110603231120/http://members.cox.net/argonne_rebels/). Archived from the original (http:// members.cox.net/argonne_rebels/) on June 3, 2011. Retrieved December 29, 2014. 3. "History for Argonne Rebels" (http://corpsreps.com/corpsreps.cfm?view=corpshist&corps=5 &corpstype=Junior). Retrieved December 29, 2014. 4. "Rural Kansas Tourism - Great Bend Exploration" (http://getruralkansas.org/Great-Bend/50E xplore/565.shtml). Retrieved December 29, 2014. 5. "Rebels with a Corps" (http://kansashumanities.org/2015/02/rebels-with-a-corps/). Kansas Humanities Council. February 23, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2017. Argonne Rebels Reunion website (http://www.argonnerebels.com) See also Notes References External links Drum Corps International website (http://www.dci.org) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Argonne_Rebels_Drum_and_Bugle_Corps&oldid=1056636822" This page was last edited on 22 November 2021, at 22:55 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.