St. Joseph Patron Cadets

The Saint Joseph Patron Parish was small, mostly Italian, and located in Brooklyn, New York. In 1956 the parish leaders were moved to organize a Sea Cadet corps for the youngsters of the neighborhood. The corps had a two-fold mission: to keep the kids out of trouble and to represent the church in parades for the annual Italian feast.

Under the guidance of the corps' first director, Tony Franco, the youngsters in the parish were bitten with the drum corps bug, and by 1959 the St. Joseph Patron Sea Cadets were in danger of developing into more than just a band.

Tony Franco would have been a rare man in any age or country. He was the founder of the Cadets and could always be found at the youth center where they practiced. His entire mind, body, and soul was dedicated to Saint Joe’s and its young members. Under relentless pressure of the Sea Cadet members, Mr. Franco would load up his black Cadillac with as many kids as could fit, and off they would go to every individual drum corps contest and standstill show they could find.

The Sea Cadets became very good very fast. Their toughest indoor competition during these early years was a very good Saint Kevin’s Emerald Knights. (It seemed that The Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, Garfield Cadets, and other top gun drum corps in the Tri-State area didn’t take any chances by competing in individual contests during the off season, because in 1959 and 1960 results of winter individual and standstill shows would influence the judges' opinions during the next competitive season.)

A very important early step on the path to becoming a marching and maneuvering corps was the hiring of the drill instructor of the famed Skyliners and Our Lady of Loretta to work with Saint Joe’s. He was none other than “The Man” Carmen Cluna, and although he was very young, he’d already staked a claim in the drum corps world as being the toughest M&M instructor there was. For the youngsters at Saint Joe’s, Cluna brought new and unpleasant meaning to the word "discipline."

Carmen’s goal was for St. Joe’s to be recognized as a winning drum and bugle corps. He was a perfectionist when it came to detail and marching. The corps practices, every Sunday at an armory in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, were known as murder sessions by the members. But the hard work paid off; the members improved, and so did the difficulty of the music and drill. The Carmen Cluna style demanded nothing less than perfection, and those who couldn’t measure up were out.

The next step in the corps building process was the introduction of Hy Dreitzer, the best horn instructor for the job and Carmen's life-long friend. With two perfectionists pushing them, the corps grew in stature and confidence. From their first standstill competition, the membership understood that Carmen’s genius could take them all the way. The corps won their first standstill show against a very tough corps called the Saints, and it was the Cluna gambit of actually marching during a standstill show, an unprecedented move, that solidified the win. Nothing was too original or innovative for Cluna's St. Joe's.

During the next two years, with much hard work and complete dedication, the Sea Cadets began to attract more talented members from around New York City. Suddenly there was a fully staffed corps: horn line, drum line, and an actual color guard. The Sea Cadets of Saint Joseph Patron Parish became the Saint Joseph Patron Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, complete with classic powder blue cadet-style uniforms, ready to put it on the field. Their inaugural field appearance was at the legendary Shea Stadium in 1962. They joined the Greater New York Circuit in 1963, competing in several shows in New York and New Jersey, as well as in the World Open Prelims in September where they took 16th place out of 19 corps, a field that included such names as Blessed Sacrament, Boston Crusaders, St Kevin’s Emerald Knights, the Pittsfield Cavaliers, St. Rocco’s, Bronx Kingsmen, and OLPH Ridgemen.

1964 found the corps honing their skills and climbing the ranks among some of the great names in drum corps on the East Coast. The group placed fourth at the Greater New York Circuit Championships in September.

Don Fresing came on board as drum instructor in 1965. He helped the corps continue to grow, with new horn players and drummers showing up from all over the city. The talent contained in St. Joseph’s was amazing. At New York State Championships in Buffalo that year, the corps put together a great show and took fourth place in a field of 23. They ended the season by capturing the Greater New York Circuit Championships.

In 1966, St. Joe's OTL “Entry Of The Gladiators,” commonly called “The Circus Song,” became (along with the Troopers' “How The West Was Won”) one of the most recognizable pieces in the entire drum corps repertoire. Matching marching to music, St. Joe’s also mastered the art of the company front (which Carmen Cluna called “The most difficult first forty-eight steps of your life!”), and presented one of the first color guards to twirl flag poles. The music got even tougher in 1967, and the horn line’s reputation increased in proportion. Hy Dreitzer was even writing horn music to drum solos. The highlight of the year was a fourth-place finish at the New York State American Legion Championships that July. St. Joseph Patron Cadets were innovative, sharp and clean. They were executing some of the most challenging music and drill in drum corps. They were the marching machine in a class all their own. The degree of difficulty in the repertoire and the power of their small horn line could be matched by very few other drum corps.

In St. Joseph Patron Cadets' final year, 1968, they placed fifth in both Prelims and Finals of the U.S. Open in Marion, Ohio. But with their growth and success came increased financial demands. Even as their fame grew, the the local supporting church couldn’t completely comprehend what this drum corps thing really was, and as the expense of uniforms, equipment and travel escalated, the church could no longer afford the corps.

Saint Joseph Patron Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps needed a new sponsor at the end of the 1968 season, and St. Rita’s Roman Catholic Church was willing to take over the responsibility. Saint Rita’s Brassmen, “The Cinderella Corps From Brooklyn New York,” was born from the demise of the St. Joseph Patron Cadets. The corps may have folded, but the Saint Joseph Patron Cadets lives on in the hearts and souls of the men and women who marched with her.

[Gregory Bruce and Ted Swartzberg]

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