Cadets of Greece

The Cadets of Greece drum & bugle corps was founded in the fall of 1967 as the Greece Cadets, a youth organization in the town of Greece, a suburb of Rochester and sponsored by the Greece American Legion (AL) Post 468, the Elks Club and the Patchen Briggs Red Jacket VFW 309 Post.

They entered the field of competition in 1968 as a member of the Penn-York circuit, placing 2^nd in the “Class B” division and 15^th in the 1969 “Class A” championships. The corps participated in their first regional contest, placing 21^st in the 1970 World Open “Class B” preliminary round and 12^th in the Penn-York “Class A” prelims. The following season saw the Greece unit place 14^th in the 1971 US Open “Class A” prelims and finished 2^nd in the Penn-York “Class B” finals.

Over the next 2 years, the corps participated in numerous “Class A” regional competitions that included preliminary finishes in 1972 & 1973 of 26^th & 14^th the US Open, 11^th in the American International Open (AIO) as well as 3^rd in the 1972 Penn-York “Class B” finals & 7^th in the 1973 “Class A” prelims with a 9^th & 11^th place finish in in the New York (NY) AL preliminaries. The 1974 season proved to be a stepping stone for the corps, ranking as a finalist in all “Class A” regional championships; US Open (6^th), AIO (5^th), Key to the Sea (7^th), NY AL (7^th) & 2^nd in the Penn-York circuit.

Through the early 1970s, the corps was known as the Greece Cadets. However, the corps changed their name in 1975 after a show announcer mistakenly called the corps the "Cadets of Greece." Corps members and management liked the "mistake" so much they adopted the new name. The corps garnered the US Open regional title, 2^nd in the AIO finals and had the distinction of being the first unit to win the 1975 DCI “Class A" crown in to  go along with the Penn-York title. They also placed 5^th in the NY AL contest.

After a successful year, the corps moved up to “Open Class” competition but due to a loss of membership in 1976, they managed an 8^th place finish in the NY AL finals and preliminary positions of 21^st (AIO), 26^th (US Open), 33^rd (VFW Nationals) & 44^th (DCI). The Cadets bounced back in 1977, qualifying among the finalists in the AIO (9^th) & US Open (12^th), a 12^th place finish in the World Open prelims & 4^th in the NY AL state championships. In what many considered their best competitive season, the corps went on to the 1978 finals of AIO (5^th), US Open (11^th), DCI East (12^th), culminating with a “Top 25” DCI Associate membership, placing 22^nd in the “Open Class” prelims.

In 1979, the Cadets of Greece continued to compete at a high level within the “Open Class” division, finishing in the finals of the AIO (5^th), US Open (11^th) & DCI Canada (12^th) but just missed out on retaining their DCI Associate membership by a mere 3 tenths of a point, placing in 26^th position. Throughout the late seventies, the corps was a major rivalry of the Squires of Watkins Glen, that kept a healthy competitive atmosphere between the 2 groups. This organization also had a very strong feeder corps as much of the membership grew up as members of the Greece Shoreliner Cadets. Greece failed to field a competitive corps in 1980 but returned in 1981 under new management where they competed as a member of the Drum Corps East circuit, placing 19^th in the prelims and finished 10^th in the DCI “Class A” preliminaries.  

In 1982, the corps merged briefly with the Patriots organization and fielded Fusion for one season.

From the 1979 US Open Program; DCW, 12/92, p.6; Paul Legault (DCX)

CORPS 8 items

Cadets of Greece

Greece Cadets button from the Bob Carell Collection

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,BS1(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,LP1-Crest(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by UNKNOWN

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,Patch1-Crest(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by UNKNOWN

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,Patch2-1975-USOpenChamps(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by UNKNOWN

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,Pin1-CadetsOfGreece(RE-2.25)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,Pin2-Crest(RE-3.0)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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Cadets of Greece

GreeceCadets,Greece,NY,Pin3-ShorelinerCadets(Site)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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