The Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps is an all-age

drum and bugle corps Drum and bugle corps is a name used to describe several related musical ensembles. * Drum and bugle corps (modern), a musical marching unit * Drum and bugle corps (classic), musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units retu ...

based in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. This ensemble is a charter member of

Drum Corps Associates Drum Corps Associates (DCA) is a governing body for modern all-age and senior drum and bugle corps in North America. DCA's responsibilities include sanctioning competitions, certifying adjudicators, maintaining and enforcing rules of competition, ...

History

Pre-DCA (VFW/American Legion)

The Reading Buccaneers drum and bugle corps was formed in August 1957 by bugler Bruce Englehart and three friends as a parade corps for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veterans. A field corps was formed in 1958, which competed in the

VFW The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as United States Armed Forces, military service members fought in wars, Military campaign, campaigns, ...

circuit. The Reading Buccaneers captured the

championship in 1960, 1961, and 1962. In 1962, the corps was composed of a forty-two-member horn line, twelve-member drum section and an eighteen-member color guard. Its brass instrumentalists used Getzen twin-piston horns. Members of the ensemble wore "brilliant blue satin and black" buccaneer-style uniforms with silver trim and black "flat-crowned" hats with white ostrich feather plumes. The Reading Buccaneers was the last

to win the

championship as the award was retired in 1962.

Modern Years (DCA)

In 1965, the Reading Buccaneers became a charter member of

. The Buccaneers won the first

DCA Open Class World Champions During Labor Day Weekend, Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Open Class corps compete to earn the title of DCA Open Class World Champion. The championships consist of 2 rounds (Prelims and Finals) held on 2 consecutive nights (the Saturday and Sunday nig ...

in 1965. The ensemble has since repeated sixteen times, in 1968, 1979, 1980, 2005, 2006, 2007 (the corps' 50th anniversary), 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 (the corps' 60th anniversary), 2018, and 2019. The corps won the first DCA World Class Championship title in 2022. The corps has also placed second nine times (1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1999, 2001, 2011, and 2016) and third seven times (1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 2000, 2002, and 2004). It has missed being a DCA finalist only three times.

Traditions

The official corps nickname is "The Balance in Blue" because of the variety of musical styles it has presented over the years, although the corps has programmed mostly classical choices since the late 1990s. The official corps symbol is a

ship's wheel A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to steer that vessel and control its course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms part of the helm. It is connected to a mechanical, electric servo, or h ...

in blue with a

falchion A falchion (; Old French: ''fauchon''; Latin: ''falx'', "sickle") is a one-handed, single-edged sword of European origin. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 13th century up to and including the 16th century. In some version ...

laid horizontal with the name of the corps. The official corps song is sung to the theme of ''

An Affair to Remember ''An Affair to Remember'' is a 1957 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is considered among the most romantic films of all ...

''. " Beyond the Sea" is also an unofficial corps song.

References

External links

*
Buccaneer Alumni Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reading Buccaneers Drum And Bugle Corps Drum Corps Associates corps Reading, Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars 1957 establishments in Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 1957