The Cadets

The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps was a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps most lately based in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Cadets was founded in 1934 as the Holy Name Cadets by Charles Mura and Michael Koeph along with Rev. Edwin Garrity of the Holy Name Catholic parish in Garfield, New Jersey as an activity for the boys in the parish.

The corps quickly became one of the top junior corps in the country. They won their first national championship, the American Legion Nationals, in 1940. Between 1940 and 1964 the Cadets won nine American Legion national crowns, more than any other junior corps, even retiring the championship trophy after they won three years in a row, 1960-62. They also captured "The Dream" mythical national Championship five times.

Credited as being the first touring corps, the Cadets traveled three weeks by bus to Los Angeles in 1950 for one single show to defend their Legion title. That tour ended on a dramatic note, when the corps' bus broke down in Wagon Mound, New Mexico on the way home. Legend has it that, after a dispute between corps members and locals, the whole corps was run out of town at gunpoint.

In 1958, the parish rejected the underwriting of further travel and disbanded the corps keeping the uniforms and instruments. In reaction, the corps members individually bought their own uniforms, paid for their own transportation, and borrowed horns from the Chicago Cavaliers to defend their American Legion National Championship in Chicago as the Garfield Cadets. They finished second, 0.3 points behind the Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights and 1.18 ahead of the generous third place Cavaliers. Also in 1958, an LP record album entitled "John Philip Sousa's Greatest Marches" featured a full-color photo of the Garfield Cadets. For the 1958 season and a part of '59 the corps wore white shirts and shorts instead of traditional uniforms until, in mid-season of '59, the parish "gifted" the corps the with the uniforms that had long been (and would long remain) its trademark. The Cadet uniform of cream-colored trousers, maroon jackets, and gold sashes remained essentially unchanged from 1934 into the 21st century.

In the second half of the Sixties, the Garfield Cadets slipped from the top and became more of an also-ran than a champion. In 1969, the corps became coed. and was also the first year they attended VFW finals after skipping it for a number of years. They placed 11th that year, tenth in 1970 and seventh in 1971. In 1971, the Cadets marched one of the first theme shows, entitled "No More War"--- at VFW Nationals in Dallas, the legend says that they tried to convince the VFW officials that the peace symbol in their drill was actually the Mercedes-Benz logo.

Also in 1971, the Garfield Cadets, along with the 27th Lancers, Boston Crusaders, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, and Blue Rock formed the United Organization of Junior Corps (also known as the "Alliance"). This was a reaction to the rigid, inflexible rules of the American Legion and VFW (the primary rule makers and sponsors of both corps and shows) and the low or nonexistent performance fees paid for appearing in the various competitions. A similar group of Midwestern corps, the Midwest Combine, was formed by the Blue Stars, Cavaliers, Madison Scouts, Santa Clara Vanguard, and the Troopers. These corps stated that not only were they having their creative potential as artistic performing groups stifled, but they were being financially starved. The Alliance and Combine members further declared that the corps should be making their own rules, operating their own competitions and championships, and keeping the bulk of the monies those shows earned.

For the 1971 season, the five corps stuck together, offering show promoters the group as a package deal. Despite pressure on show sponsors, judges, and other drum corps, the corps were booked into a number of shows together. In 1972, the Cadets, along with the nine other corps from the Alliance and the Midwest Combine, plus the Anaheim Kingsmen, Argonne Rebels, and De La Salle Oaklands were founding members of Drum Corps International (DCI), which remains as the sanctioning body for junior corps in North America.

Although a charter member, through the first ten years of DCI, the Garfield Cadets was nothing special, even if the corps appeared in the movie "Crazy Joe" in 1974. With the then-usual hodge-podge of musical styles in a show, Garfield made the Top 12 in Finals only four times, with 1981's seventh place being the corps' highest finish. Then in 1982, a switch to a modern semiclassical repertoire vaulted the Cadets to a third place finish.

In 1983, the Garfield Cadets stormed out of the gate, winning show after show after show. Undefeated going into DCI Finals in Miami, the Cadets had won thirty-three straight contests, with six additional top placements in prelim shows. The win streak came to a sudden halt in DCI Semifinals, where the Cadets were in a second place tie with the Blue Devils, .75 points behind the Santa Clara Vanguard, despite having soundly beaten both corps earlier. Pulling out all the stops, the Garfield Cadets left everyone else in their dust in Finals, beating Blue Devils by .6, with BD ahead of SCV by more tha a point. The Garfield Cadets had won its first DCI World Championship.

As defending champions, the '84 Cadets lost one show each to Phantom Regiment, Santa Clara Vanguard, and Blue Devils. In DCI semifinals, only BD was within 2.5 points, trailing by 0.8. In Finals,four-time former champion SCV and five-time former champion BD both came out breathing fire, and only by performing theiir "West Side Story" program to a DCI record high score of 98.000 did the Garfield Cadets successfully defend its title.

A trip into the Midwest brought the 1985 Cadets losses at Whitewater and Rockford to the Madison Scouts, who peaked early before falling to a distant 4th place DCI finish at home in Madison. Then they met up with Santa Clara. The two corps tied in DCI East prelims before SCV not onlly won finals that night, but won the next tree meetings of the two corps. Then, Garfield won the U.S. Open the weekend before DCI Finals and did not look back. After a close semifinals, the Garfield Cadets turned in another DCI record high score of 98.400 to gain the first "three-peat" championship in DCI History. Only the 2000-02 Cavaliers have also been able to accomplish a "three-peat" in DCI's top division. (These two three-peats are for DCI's highest ranking class of corps; lower classes have seen an earlier three-peat and even a four-peat.)

After three seasons in a row at the top, Garfield '86 fell to 4th place, but on July 4th, the Cadets performed as a part of the Liberty Weekend that celebrated both the hundredth anniversary of the Statue of Liberty and its restoration. In 1987, they were right back on top, with the "Appalachian Spring" show earning their fourth DCI title in five years.

The drill for the Garfield Cadets first four DCI Championships was designed by George Zingali, the most innovative designer of the period. When the corps performed a move auch as his famous "Z Pull, fans scratched their collective heads and asked, "How in the... heck... did they do that?"

1988 was another 4th place season. In 1989, the corps moved out of the City of Garfield into suburban Bergen County. The corps changed its name to the Cadets of Bergen County and finished fifth at DCI.

The Cadets of Bergen County won DCI Championships in 1990, '93, '98, and 2000. In 1996, sponsorship of the corps was passed to Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!), an umbrella organization sponsoring several youth and musical activities, and the Cadets of Bergen County performed at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In the wake of 9/11, many 2002 drum corps shows built on patriotic and heroic themes. The Cadets' show celebrated New York, and their performance was augmented on Finals night when the corps staff persuaded a fire station near Madison's Camp Randall Stadium to wind its siren right on cue and clearly audible to fans. The Cadets finished third.

In 2003, their 70th anniversary, YEA! and the corps moved completely out of New Jersy, to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Rather than continue with a name that signified locale or sponsorship, the corps was renamed simply, The Cadets.

In a departure in what they had been doing musically since 1982, the Cadets' 2004 show was called 'Living With the Past,' and featured music of classic rock band Jethro Tull. The group won ten contests during the season, and took fourth place on DCI Finals night.

"Volume 2: Through the Looking Glass" followed in 2006. This time, the "fake" front was baby blue, but each member's had design variations, making them all non-uniform. After a fifth place finish, the traditional uniforms returned.

The Cadets were runnersup in 2007 and fifth again in '08. In 2009, the corps reclaimed its original name and marched the 75th Anniversary Season as the Holy Name Cadets, placing third. 2010 was another fifth place finish.

2011 was another year for major uniform changes. "Between Angels and Demons" split the corps in two, half angels, half demons. The "demons" were dressed head-to-toe in maroon--- plume, shako, jacket, pants, shoes. The "angels" wore all-white. Only the yellow sash was worn by both. "Between Angels and Demons" was good for The Cadets' tenth DCI World Championship.

Through 2017, The Cadets have remained a DCI Top 12 Finalist. At that time, the corps was one of only five corps to attend every DCI World Championship.

The drum corps world was rocked on April 5, 2018, when the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News published allegations that The Cadets longstanding corps director, George Hopkins, had sexually harassed or abused multiple members of the both the corps and its staff over a period of years. Later that day, Hopkins stepped down as director of The Cadets and YEA! CEO while also denying the allegations. Sean King was named as interim CEO for YEA!

On April 11, 2018 the board of directors tendered its resignation, and a new board and officers immediately took over operations of the organization. Having received no letter of resignation, the new board immediately terminated Hopkins for cause, negating any possible severence pay. The new board hired a Chicago labor and employment law firm, Franczek Radelet, to investigate the accusations against Hopkins as well as YEA’s policies and procedures for providing a safe environment for youth members, employees, and volunteers. YEA! also established a hotline for calls to report concerns or complaints.

The YEA! organization was immediately put on a probationary status by DCI with the statement that, "The terms of the probation include multiple steps for YEA! to take in order for its drum corps to participate in the upcoming 2018 DCI Summer Tour." The corps' planned travel to the West Coast to open the season was cancelled, with the schedule redrawn for Eastern shows instead. The corps' compliance with the terms of probation was sufficient for DCI to allow the corps to compete in 2018, and the probation was lifted in May of 2019..

The 2020 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The corps returned to the field for the non-competitive 2021 season. 

On February 13, 2023 the Cadets Arts and Entertainment Board approved the corps' move to the Erie Sports Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, even though Erie had the worst economic landscape in Pennsylvania.

On October 13, 2023 Cadets Art and Entertainment announced that the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps' 2024 competitive season will be suspended.  Although all expenses for 2023 were "managed within expectation," the organization fell short of its fundraising goals.

On April 2, 2024 The Cadets filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and stated that the corps will never again compete on the field. The Board of Directors citied the costs of defending a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit as being at least a large part of the cause. While the organization had vigorously defended against the lawsuit, it had created a crippling financial situation that could not be overcome.

[Youth Education in the Arts; Competitive Drum Corps, Popp, 1980; ; A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vickers, 2002-03; Drum Corps World, multiple issues; Drum Corps International]

CORPS 160 items

The Cadets

Garfield Cadets from the Bill Ives Collection

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Garfield Cadets 2 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Garfield Cadets International Fan Club from the Bill Ives Collection

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Garfield Cadets from the Bill Ives Collection Contributed by Carmen Frech

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Garfield Cadets from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-1 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-3 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-4 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-5 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-6 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-Anniversary Pin1 from the Bill Ives Collection

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Cadets Allentown PA-AnniversaryPin3 from the Bill Ives Collection

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PDF Document

248-253, Garfield Cadets from the Steve Vickers Collection

The Cadets

1971 Garfield Cadets Poster from the Steve Vickers Collection

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1971 Garfield Cadets Poster - Detail 1 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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1971 Garfield Cadets Poster - Detail 2 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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1971 Garfield Cadets Poster - Detail 3 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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1971 Garfield Cadets Poster - Detail 4 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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1971 Garfield Cadets Poster - Detail 5 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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CADETS - Estabished 1934 from the Steve Vickers Collection

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