Boyertown’s 55th ‘Original’ Cavalcade of Bands, hosted annually by the Boyertown Area School Music League, was held on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Boyertown Area Senior High School Memorial Stadium.
Winners were as follows:AMERICAN DIVISION
In 1st place, with a score of 73.700, Northampton High School
High AuxiliaryLIBERTY DIVISIONIn 1st place, with a score of 78.400, Pottsgrove High School
High AuxiliaryYANKEE DIVISIONIn 2nd place, with a score of 76.650, Pottstown High School
In 1st place, with a score of 78.250, Governor Mifflin High School
High AuxiliaryINDEPENDENCE DIVISION
In 3rd place, with a score of 72.200, Catasauqua High School
In 2nd place, with a score of 72.500, Palisades High School
In 1st place, with a score of 78.100, Pittston High School
High AuxiliaryPATRIOT DIVISIONIn 1st place, with a score of 84.350, Hempfield High School
High Overall Auxiliary, High Overall
Visual,High MusicHigh Overall Score
Background:In 1958, a small group led by then Boyertown Police Chief Henry E. Groff and ten interested persons, formed the Boyertown Music League. Their goal was to promote the various programs of the school district’s music organizations and to help develop and promote new cultural activities in and for the community. The original officers included Henry Groff, president; Warren Knade, vice president; Dorthea L. Wise Kompf, secretary; and Daniel W. Moyer, treasurer.
During its first year of organization, the league undertook three fundraising projects. The proceeds were used to buy new Springfield rifles for the senior high school rifle squad, and to buy song flutes and music books for the district’s elementary schools.
During the winter, the Music League met and discussed doing something to focus more attention on marching band field shows. Members wanted develop some form of exhibition that would provide students with an opportunity to see one another’s efforts, and encourage excellence. Borrowing its title from the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, the Boyertown Cavalcade of Bands was born.
The Cavalcade made its debut, Tuesday October 27th, 1959. Two thousand spectators braved ‘bone-chilling weather’ and joined MC Dave Bause, a WRAW radio personality, to watch 750 participants from Owen J. Roberts, Daniel Boone, Governor Mifflin, Upper Darby, Chichester, North Hampton and Boyertown High Schools perform their field shows. Judging was designed to produce a first and second place winner with Governor Mifflin and Daniel Boone High Schools finishing accordingly. Enthusiasm the day after was high enough to provide the impetus for making the Cavalcade an annual event.
Of these early cavalcades, former Boyertown band director Arlen Saylor stated ‘that there were few marching units in the modern sense. Most were just bands with a few majorettes. Pageantry was extremely limited. With each year however, the shows became more complex, the pride more evident.’ Saylor also said, ‘The Music League wanted to provide an opportunity for more students to get involved in marching units, to create more pageantry and color, and to just have fun!’
One of the early decisions for Cavalcade organizers was choosing a judging format. Because there were no like competitions, a judging model, based on one used for drum and bugle corps competition was adopted. This model featured a negative tick system, which arrived at a score based on the number of errors witnessed by the judges. It remained in effect until 1969 when the judging format was changed to the more familiar ‘outstanding, excellent, good’ system. Now a numerical system is used, once again putting the Boyertown Cavalcade on the ‘cutting edge’ of competitions.
Submitted by the Boyertown Music League