Columbians

The Tri-Cities was the first in the Northwest to establish a junior drum and bugle corps in 1955 called the Franklin County American Legion (AL) Post 34 of Pasco. Robert Reeves Glen was instrumental in the foundation of the corps.

The Post 34 unit appeared in exhibition at the 1956 state convention and progressed the following season with several regional and out-of-state performances before entering the field of competition in 1958, winning the first of 4 consecutive WA AL state championships. In 1961, the corps’ name was changed to the Tri-City Columbians, based on the Columbia River which runs through the region and ties each of the three cities in the Tri-Cities, Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, together into one metro area.

The corps competed at the 1961 AL Nationals, placing 12^th in the prelims and was a finalist the following year, finishing 5^th at the 1962 AL Nationals. They were also crowned the 1962 VFW state champions and placed 2^nd in the AL state contest. The Tri-City unit also participated at the 1963 VFW Nationals, where the finished in 7^th position in the finals and added their 5^th and final AL state championship to go along with a 2^nd place finish at the VFW state convention.

The 1964 season included the VFW state title and a 2^nd place finish at the AL state championship. They made their final appearance at the 1965 AL Nationals, placing 10th in the preliminary round to go with 3^rd place finishes at both the AL and VFW state contests. From 1966 to 1968, the corps state competitions, placing 3^rd at the VFW in 1966-1967 and 3^rd and 5^th at the AL in 1966 and 1968 respectively. They also appeared at their first Northwest Drum corps Association Circuit (NWDCA) championship, where they finished 4^th in the “Class A” division. The group reorganized as a parade and exhibition  corps for the next two years.

The Tri-City Columbians returned to field competition in the “Class B” division, where they placed 2^nd at the 1971 NWDCA championships and 3^rd at the All-American regionals. The following season saw the corps move up to “Class A” action, leaping to a 2^nd place finish in the 1972 NWDCA finals, along with 3^rd position at the VFW state and 7^th place in the All-American regional. The corps toured for the first time in 1973, when they participated at both the “Open Class” prelims in the US Open and DCI championships, placing 32^nd and 35^th respectively.  In what became their final year of competition for several decades, the corps opted to tour in the West as members of the 1974 Drum Corps West circuit, finishing 7^th in the finals.

In the fall of 2012, Dan Perry, who had been one of the founders of the Oregon Crusaders, and Shawn Anderson, an alumnus of the Seattle Cascades, reached out to Derek Munson, another Cascades alumnus, about designing a website for a new drum corps they were forming in the Vancouver area, tentatively titled "The Ascent." Munson, who lived in Tri-Cities, spoke with Anderson several times about the viability of a drum corps in the Tri-Cities region, as the turn out to previous "Walk on Weekend" audition camps in the Vancouver area had been less than expected.

Having worked with the local “Drums Along the Columbia” drum corps show and knowing the region's music and arts scene, Munson encouraged Anderson and Perry to contact Russ Newbury, who was then the band director at Pasco High School and had been an arranger for the Blue Knights. After much discussion about the name of the corps, it was decided to name it after the original Tri-City Columbians drum and bugle corps, which existed in the area from 1955 to 1974. Honoring the original corps and the region's rich drum corps history was key in getting the new corps off the ground.

The new version was officially founded on November 20, 2012. Assistance and a donation of some instruments came from Seattle's Northwest Youth Music Association, the sponsors of the Cascades. Auditions and rehearsals began that November, and, over the following months, over 100 attended, some only to see what the activity was about, and others to become members. In their inaugural season, 2013, while also making several other appearances, the corps entered field competition with shows in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. They marched fifty members from the Tri-Cities, but also included members from as far away as Utah and Texas.

Over the next two seasons, the Columbians performed within the Northwest, giving their members the opportunity to have the drum corps experience without having to give up their entire summer. In 2016, they expanded their touring events, traveling to Utah and competed at the famous “Drums Along the Rockies” (DATR), where the Pasco unit placed 1^st in the “Open Class” division, returning to the 2017 DATR contest, finishing 2^nd in “Open Class” competition. They remained competitive for the next 3 seasons within the Northwest, where they ranked 2^nd in “Open Class” competition before the 2020 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The corps was also inactive for the non-competitive 2021 season but returned to the field for the 2022 season.

Upon their return to competition, the group extended their tour to include California, where as members of the 2022 Pacific circuit, placed 3^rd in the “Open Class”. Fifty years later, they made their first appearance at the DCI championships since 1973, finishing 4^th in the 2023 “Open Class” finals and celebrated with a “Top 25” finish for the first time in their history, placing 24^th in “World Class” semifinals. The following year saw the corps place 5^th in the 2024 DCI Open finals and just missed out by one position of qualifying once again in the semifinals, with a 26^th place finish in the “World Class” prelims.

Friends of the Columbians; Drum Corps International; Paul Legault (DCX)