Auburn Noteables

In the autumn of 1958, Jay Grady and Walter Healey convinced their American Legion Post, the Chester P. Tuttle Post 279 of Auburn, Massachusetts, to sponsor a drum and bugle corps. Grady and Healey were the founders and co-managers of the resulting drum corps called The Sons and Daughters of the American Legion.

Earl Sturtze, Jr., the son of the legendary drummer and instructor Earl Sturtze, became the drum instructor, Walter Healey was the horn instructor, and Bill Fanning (of the Fitchburg Kingsmen) became the marching instructor.

In their first year of competition, 1959, the corps used G bugles, competing in the valveless G-bugle, standstill class in the Massachusetts Association. The Sons and Daughters won the championship that year in their class, as well as the Northeastern States Championship in Connecticut.

After that season, the corps purchased valve bugles, committed to marching and maneuvering, and changed their name to the Auburn Noteables. (This variant spelling was to highlight the "note" as in music, and to avoid accusations that the corps was "not-able.") In their first M&M season, the Noteables competed in both the Yankee Circuit and the Massachusetts Association, winning the 6-8 minute Class B in both.

By 1961, the Noteables went to an 11- to 13-minute routine, and had a very successful season, winning many first-place trophies as well as both the Yankee Circuit Championship and the Massachusetts Association Championship in their class.

The Noteables added the tough Eastern Massachusetts Competition circuit to their schedule in 1962. Against the corps in this challenging circuit (like St. Kevin's Emerald Knights, the St. Mary's Majestic Knights, and Boston Crusaders), they usually finished no higher than the middle of the pack. In the Yankee Circuit and the Massachusetts Association contests, however, they won many first-place trophies and repeated as Yankee Circuit champions and Massachusetts Association champions. Drum instructor Tom Marlborough came aboard in 1962.

In the 1963 season, the Noteables competed only in Class A. Before the 1963 season, a change in management and instructors had resulted in a number of people quitting the corps. The corps didn't do well that year, and after the season, Jay Grady returned as manager. One of Grady’s innovations was to get Truman Crawford to write much of the Noteables' music.

The Noteables also changed their uniforms from red, white, and blue to black, gold, and white for the 1964 season. Tom Marlborough returned as drum instructor, Dick Yucatonis became the bugle instructor, and Russ Spencer was the drill instructor.

In 1964, the Noteables joined the Mayflower Circuit. They competed in Class A in that circuit as well as in the Yankee Circuit and the Eastern Mass., and they had a very successful year, finishing in the top three of almost every contest. After the 1964 season, Jack Grady, a snare drummer with the corps, became the drum instructor. Bill Fanning returned as M&M instructor, and Al LeBoeuf taught the horn line.

In the spring of 1965, the Lithuanian War Veterans Drum and Bugle corps of Shrewsbury and Worcester, Massachusetts, merged with the Noteables. This new corps was officially the Noteables/Lithuanians or the Noteable Lithuanians, but more often than not, people, including announcers, still referred to the corps as the Auburn Noteables. The Noteables fielded their best corps ever in 1965. Against an array of strong competition, they almost always finished in either first, second, or third, although a championship eluded them. The Noteables drum line was particularly strong in both 1964 and 1965. All of the corps' first-place trophies were achieved as a direct result of their high drum score.

The Noteables appeared on two LPs in 1965: "Legion Drums," which was recorded by Master Records, and the "Mayflower Circuit Championship" top four, which was recorded by Fleetwood Records and issued on Fleetwood's Cadet label.

Although the Chester P. Tuttle Post 279 of the Americn Legion continued to sponsor the corps for its entire life, many corps members aged out before the 1966 season, resulting in a severe decrease in corps size. The Auburn Noteables disbanded after just one competition in 1966.

[Jack Grady]

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