Midlanders

"The Midlanders were formed in January, 1967 from the amalgamation of the Oakridge Optimists of London and the Woodstock Imperials. They made their M&M debut in May of that year in London and showed a rather critical corps audience that they had potential (possibly due to their Toronto Optimist instruction). The Midlanders won their first contest in Welland, Ontario a month later; but later in August, placed a close 4th in the Ontario Provincial Championships (1 point seperated 1st from 4th). That show was the first milestone of their history. Determination and hard work gave this somewhat angry corps a 4 point first at the C.N.E. grounds one week later over their forever challenging rivals, the Scarborough Firefighters. Spirits were quite high for the Canadian Nationals of 1967 the following week, where they won their first Junior "B" title by 5 points-scoring 77.78 (after a 2 point penalty); the climax to a good beginning year.
The Midlanders looked forward to a repeat performance in 1968 and possibly picking up a few extra rewards. They made their first trip to the United States on July 4th, where they placed 1st in a parade and 1st in the V.F.W. Independence Day parade at Detroit, Michigan. Later in August, it took only a faint recollection of the 1967 Ontario's to make them more determined than ever to win this year, which they did by 4 points. Labor Day had the Midlanders back at the C.N.E grounds in Toronto for a repeat of 1967, but they lost through a guard penalty. This was a bad time to lose with the Canadian Nationals only 5 days away. Remembering that determination and hard work paid off before, they set to work and were rewarded with the 1968 Canadian National Junior "B" title by just more than 1 point."
As of 1969..."The Midlanders had won the Canadian Nationals Junior "B" title for the third straight year in a row, this time by almost 11 points over the second place finisher. The Midlanders had finally won the coveted Junior "B" Triple Crown; Ontario's, C.N.E., and the Nationals, thus firmly establishing their dominance of the Canadian Junior "B" scene with ten 1sts, three 2nds, and one 3rd for 1969."

[From the "Hands Across the Border" article by Robert Schleidt in the May 1970 issue of DCD. Parts of th article regarding the Junior "B" Circuit were omitted].
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The Midlanders were formed in 1966 and entered Junior "B" competition in 1967. They were Ontario Jr. "B" champions in 1968 & 69 and Canadian Champions in 1967 - 68 - 69 . US Open Class "A" champs and World Open Class "B" champions in 1970.

[Source: Canadian Nationals program, submitted by WENDY PAQUIN]

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