Imperial Regiment

One of the corps that eventually formed the basis for the Imperial Regiment started in the early 1960s as the Sons and Daughters. The VFW Private Leonard Post Jr. Post 5251 had a color guard that needed a beat to help them keep in step during parades, so they came up with the idea of starting a junior drum and bugle corps out of the sons and daughters of the post members.

In 1965 or 1966, as the corps got bigger, they changed the name of the corps to the Monotones. And in 1967 they inaugurated a "peanut" guard, a group of younger kids to carry the flags out in front of the corps in parades.

The corps got a facelift in 1971 when the colors were changed from gold satin and khaki to blue and white. This color combination varied over the years, but early on it was white satin tops and dark blue pants, topped by pillbox hats with plumes. When it came to a new name, they drew their inspiration from the calendar, and corps became the 71st Lancers. The corps expanded their performance range as well, including standstill competitions along with their parades.

In 1972 the corps won its first New York/Penn competition, a standstill, beating out the Lakeview Shoreliners and the Coachmen. Emboldened by this success, the 71st Lancers took to the field for the first time in 1973, where success was not immediate. Their hearts were in it, but their numbers weren't.

While preparing for the 1975 season with high hopes, the corps members learned that their 71st Lancers would be merging with their biggest rivals, the Lakeview Shoreliners.

This larger combined corps, now called the Imperial Regiment, tackled DCI for the first time in 1976, finishing 11th in Class A competition. The next year, the story is that a busload of kids came down with some nasty food poisoning but managed to carry on to DCI Class A Championships in Denver where they placed third in prelims and fourth in finals. Additionally their six person brass ensemble took first place in I&E.

The corps returned to Denver for championships in 1978 but by 1979 many of the brass players began to age out or head off to college which marked the beginning of the end for the Regiment. After a few more years of struggle, the drum and bugle corps slowly began to dismantle, and eventually devolved into a color guard corps. By the early 1980s, the organization known as the Imperial Regiment was a group of flags, one drum and one glockenspiel.

[Ken Netzel
Updates from Rev. Ken Hessel July 2017]