The Racine Scouts (formally the Racine Explorer Scouts) Drum and Bugle Corps was a junior parade Drum and bugle corps. Based in Racine, Wisconsin, the corps marched parades in the Midwestern United States. The Racine Scouts, nicknamed the "Chrome Domes", was the oldest continuously active junior drum and bugle corps in North America until they ceased activity in 2016.A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vol. 2; Steve Vickers, ed.; Drum Corps World, pub.; 2003
History
The Racine Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps began as an activity of Boy Scout Troop 15 of Racine's Lutheran Church of the Atonement in October 1927 by Scoutmaster Elof Erickson who enlisted Earl Ray as drum instructor and William L. Peterson as bugle instructor and director. Initially, the corps had no instruments; the drummers drummed on any available surface and the buglers sang, hummed, or whistled the music. By 1928 they had become a valid drum and bugle corps, marching in Racine's 4th of July parade for the first time. On October 5, 1929 the corps traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for Boy Scout Day at the University of Wisconsin.
In 1931, sponsorship of the corps was transferred from Troop 15 to the Racine County Council of the Boy Scouts. During the 1930s, the corps was designated as the official musical unit of Boy Scout National Region Seven. It also became the oldest continuously operating corps in Scouting. From 1935 through 1940, the Racine Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps was undefeated in competition. In June and July 1937, the corps attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, D.C. where they performed in concert before more than 25,000 Boy Scouts, and led a parade of Scouts to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, where they performed another concert during a downpour. Also in 1937, they were a part of the first appearance of drum corps at the Wisconsin American Legion State Convention, where they won the $25 first prize as best Scout drum and bugle corps in the parade and were first heard in a radio broadcast.
In 1938, upon seeing a performance of the corps, a group of Madison businessmen were inspired to start a local Boy Scout corps themselves. They asked for Racine's help with staff, music, and support for their start-up of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. That same year, the corps performed on NBC's "Worldwide Round Up" national radio broadcast. Also in 1938, the corps performed at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago where their buglers first performed on single piston bugles.
1939 saw the Racine Scouts playing the national anthems of the U.S. and Denmark during the visit of the Danish Crown Prince to Racine and their first VFW appearance, when, although not competing in the field show, they led a section of the parade at the Wisconsin State VFW convention in Racine.
In 1941, the Racine Scouts made their first appearance at a national competition, finishing seventh in the "Junior" competition at the American Legion National Championship held at Municipal Stadium in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; the corps would not return to any "National" competition until 1954.
World War II saw many alumni of the Racine Scouts serving in the U.S Armed Forces. Most returned from the war, but some did not. One who did not was Army Air Forces Major Jack Jerstad who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while flying against the Nazi German controlled oil fields at Ploiești, Romania. While its alumni were off to war, the corps did its part for the war effort by performing in patriotic parades and doing concert exhibitions for War Bond drives.
After the War, the Racine Boy Scouts returned to the competition field. In 1947 they traveled to Dearborn, Michigan to perform at the funeral of Henry Ford. They also became the first "outside" organization to perform at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. Also in 1947, they were seen by Scoutmaster Don Warren of Chicago's Troop 111, who then decided to start the drum and bugle corps that would become known as the Cavaliers.
1948 saw the Scouts win the first of many Wisconsin American Legion State Championship titles. In 1949 was begun the long rivalry between the Racine Scouts and the Racine YMCA Kilties (who had been active since 1936, but not very successful), fanned by a barrage of letters to the editor in the pages of the Racine Journal Times newspaper; when the two corps finally had the year's first meeting on July 12 at the State American Legion contest in Milwaukee, the Scouts repeated as champions, with the Kilties second.
The Racine Boy Scouts corps attended the 1950 Boy Scouts National Jamboree at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where they were named the "Champions of Scouting" by National Chief Scout Executive Arthur A. Schuck, a title they would bear through the 1950s. The Scouts traveled to New York City following the Jamboree, where the corps was recorded for the international broadcasts of Voice of America. While in New York, the corps managed to play where even corps from the city were forbidden. As permission was being sought for them to perform in a nearby park, the Boy Scouts caused a traffic jam playing the National Anthem in Times Square, despite efforts of the NYPD to halt them.
In 1952, the Scouts made their second appearance at a "National" contest, finishing seventh and missing the finals of the "Junior Division" of the VFW National Championships in Milwaukee by 1/2 of a point. That year the corps also attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Irvine Ranch, California and, while there, also performed a concert in Los Angeles at Hollywood and Vine.(See: Note A)
While drum and bugle corps activity blossomed in America during the 1950s, the Racine Boy Scouts were widely criticized within that activity for resting on their laurels and playing in more exhibition concerts than contests. Although the organization started the Racine Jr. Boy Scouts drum and bugle corps as a "feeder" corps in 1956, by that time it was also putting out a younger, less experienced corps than in years past. While corps like the Kilties, the Madison Scouts, the Cavaliers, and other newer, younger corps were flourishing, the Racine Boy Scouts seemed to be going into decline.
In 1957, the Scouts once more attended the National Scout Jamboree, again in Valley Forge, and also visited Niagara Falls, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Up until 1958, the corps had still been performing on equipment originally purchased in 1935 by the Drum Corps Mother's Club. In 1958, the corps replaced the old wool serge uniforms with new olive drab gabardine uniforms with white neckerchiefs. However, 1958 was the least successful competition season in the corps' history up to that time. This trend was to continue for the next several years.
In 1959 the Scouts undertook a "power tour," making 32 performances through Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin in just five days.
In 1960 the Racine Boy Scouts were once more a feature unit at the National Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They appeared in the feature about the Jamboree on the national television broadcast of "World Wide 60." Despite the exposure, the corps still languished on the competition field in both 1960 and 1961. At this time the winter "small corps" concept was a growing activity, with many corps putting out small units for indoor, standstill competitions during the winter months. (This would continue to be a popular activity until the birth of DCI in 1972, and has been experiencing a rebirth in recent years.)
In 1962, the Racine Scouts finished first in both prelims and finals of the Midwest States Small Corps Championship and finished no lower than third in any small corps competition. This resulted in a much improved 1962 summer season with both the Boy Scouts and the Junior Boy Scouts winning their divisions at the State VFW championships. The Scouts also finished twelfth of thirty-four corps at the VFW Nationals in St. Paul, Minnesota.
In 1963, the Racine Scouts traveled to Seattle, Washington for the VFW Nationals and took third place among seventeen corps.
In 1964, the Racine Boy Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps was reorganized as Explorer Scout Post 200, a specialty Explorer post whose specialty was music, and they became the Racine Explorer Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps.(See: Note B) Upon adopting their new name, the corps also changed to the uniform style that continues in use to the present day. That first Explorers corps was quite competitive on the national scene; it finished eighth of seventeen corps at the New York World's Fair show, topping such corps as the Garfield Cadets, Madison Scouts, and Blue Rock (but finishing four spots behind the Kilties). At the VFW Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio, the corps was assessed a two-point penalty that dropped them from tenth place among the forty-three corps to a thirteenth place tie and out of the twelve corps finals. They also again attended the Boy Scouts' Jamboree, once more at Valley Forge.
Although 1965 was somewhat down from 1964, the Explorer Scouts was one of the elite corps from the United States and Canada invited to appear at the "Symphony in Brass" in the sold-out Chicago Civic Opera House concert, an event that was hurrahed in the pages of Drum Corps World magazine as, "...the greatest drum corps spectacle ever to be staged in the Midwest."
1966 was the corps' best season since the early 1950s; the Explorer Scouts won both the Wisconsin American Legion and the Wisconsin VFW championships and claimed the Badgerland Drum Corps Association title among its victories. This was in a year that several other corps in Wisconsin, as well as some corps they regularly competed against from Illinois, were also highly competitive; Wisconsin placed four corps among the top eighteen at VFW Nationals, and Illinois added another five. At those 1966 VFW Nationals, held in Jersey City, New Jersey, the Explorer Scouts finished thirteenth in prelims and twelfth in finals from a field of forty-eight corps.
The 1967 corps was another strong one, with a highlight being the victory in the hometown Racine Boys of 76 senior corps' "Drum Corps Spectacular" on July 3, where the Explorer Scouts triumphed over the Chicago Royal Airs, the Des Plaines Vanguard, the Casper Troopers, the Millstadt Crusaders, and the local Racine YMCA Kilties, five corps that would join them seven weeks later in the VFW National Finals. Of the twenty-five corps at the VFW Championships, the Explorer Scouts finished eighth in prelims and moved up to sixth in finals. In honor of the Corps' 40th anniversary, Racine's Mayor William Beyer proclaimed Friday, August 4, 1967 as "Racine Scout Day."
1968 was another year of the corps being one of many very good groups from Wisconsin and Illinois; six corps from each state would finish in the top 20 of the forty-four corps in VFW prelims, with the Explorer Scouts coming in tenth in prelims and ninth in finals. They also finished 10th at the CYO Nationals in Lowell, Massachusetts.
In January 1969 the Racine Explorer Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps took a huge step: the corps went co-ed, admitting girls over fifteen years of age into the color guard. (This followed the trend that would see only three all-male North American junior corps remaining in 1972.) By March, the Explorer Scouts had thirty-five girls in the all-girl guard and over fifty more on a waiting list. The change did not bring about great success on the competition field, however. Although the corps won several Wisconsin contests, they missed finals at VFW Nationals in Philadelphia when they finished in a sixteenth place tie in the sixty-three corps prelims. The corps did make the eight corps finals at the American Legion Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, finishing eighth of the twenty corps in attendance.