Shoreliners

The Milford Shoreliners, based in Milford, Connecticut, and originally known as the Milford Police Cadets, started as a parade corps in 1959 with only a few members. By 1963, the year the corps first entered field competition, more than 100 members filled its ranks.

That first season on the field, the Shoreliners won the Yankee Circuit Championship. In 1966 the Shoreliners added the VFW and American Legion State championships to their list of titles, awards that were proudly defended for the next six years. In 1967 the corps was crowned the Greater New York M&M Circuit champions. In a short span of time the members of the Milford Shoreliners achieved a reputation of being courteous, well disciplined, and well trained. In 1969 they were invited to the CYO Nationals, where they finished eighth. The Shoreliners continued toward national recognition, and in 1970 and 1971 they became finalists in the U.S. Open in Marion, Ohio, finishing tenth in 1970.

In 1973 the corps began to face age, experience, and financial challenges. That same year, about 20 members migrated to the St. Rita’s Brassmen in Brooklyn, New York, and the Shoreliners were forced to field their 35-member feeder corps, known as The Plebes, with most kids being only 12 or 13 years old.

During the next five years the corps rebuilt itself from the ground up, improving substantially each year. Almost every member who marched between 1973 and 1976 stayed in, and as the kids grew up, so did the corps. During this time, the corps attracted a dynamic and talented staff (Paul Mayer, Mickey Kelley, Dennis Banks, Jimmy Dugan Sr., Frank Germinaro, Pat Scalon, Kenton Clarke, Joe Giannone, Vinny Day, Herman Rubin). In only five years the corps made a miraculous recovery. In 1977 they fielded 105 members and went undefeated in the Northeastern Circuit, winning the championship. That same year, the Shoreliners were crowned World Open Class B champions.

For a moment, it seemed that the corps would one day become a DCI finalist. However, in the fall of 1977 the Shoreliners suddenly and unexpectedly went inactive. Along with financial problems, the corps was becoming too much of a burden for its beloved director, retired Milford Police Sgt. Frank Polizzi, Sr. In 1978 the Shoreliners were inactive for the first time in their 18-year history. It should be noted, however, that over 20 ex-Shoreliners joined the Bengal Lancers in 1978, filling in the ranks and making up for the large number of Lancers who aged out in 1977. The Bengal Lancers fielded 95 members in 1978.

That summer, word got out the Milford Shoreliners were reforming and approximately 200 kids, including almost all the members from the 1977 season, showed up for the first rehearsal. Unfortunately, that number diminished severely in one night due to the new director’s inexperience and the kids’ lack of confidence in him. In 1979, the Shoreliners took the field with a corps of 38 members.

After two decades, three separate incarnations, and two hard-fought climbs to the brink of national prominence, the Milford Shoreliners officially ceased operations in the fall of 1979.

[Michael DeAngelis; A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, 2002]

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