Gauchos

The Gauchos drum and bugle corps was formed in the spring of 1969, under the direction of Dennis Morril and Edward Tryniski Junior.

Over the first two years, the corps was active in parades and exhibitions and entered the field of competition as members of the Penn-York circuit, placing 6^th in the 1971 “Class B” finals. The next season saw the unit compete in the 1972 World Open “Class B” preliminary round, where they finished in 11^th position and was crowned the Penn-York “Class B” champions.

In 1973, the Fulton group, placed 2^nd in the World Open “Class B” finals, 10th in the New York State Legion championships and participated in both the American International Open (AIO) & U.S. Open “Class A” preliminaries, placing 8^th and 9^th respectively. They closed out the season with a 4^th place finish in the Penn-York circuit “Class A” finals. The 1974 season was a very successful one that included Finals’ appearances in the AIO (4^th) , the US Open (5^th) and the Key to the Sea Open (5^th) “Class A” regionals, a 9^th place finish in the New York state convention, 3rd place in the “Class A” Penn-York circuit and finally a 5^th place finish in the Eastern States circuit championships. They also performed for the first time in the DCI “Open Class” contest, where they placed 42^nd in the prelims.

After 2^nd and 3^rd place finishes in the 1975 US Open and AIO finals, the corps missed out by a mere two-tenths of a point from the DCI “Class A” finals, placing 6th on their way to a 10^th place finish in New York State competition and a 3^rd place finish once again in the Penn-York circuit contest. The following season proved to be the corps most successful to date, winning both the 1976 AIO and Penn-York “Class A” championships, and placed 2^nd in the US Open, Key to the Sea and DCI “Class A” finals, along with a 4^th  place finish at the New York state convention.

In 1977, the corps moved up to the “Open Class” division, where they once again met with great success by placing 6^th  in the AIO finals and 15^th in the preliminaries of both the US Open and the United Organization of Eastern Corps circuit, culminating with a respectable 30^th place finish in the DCI “Open class” prelims. The corps went inactive in 1978 and was reorganized under the leadership of Wesley Dean as a parade group in 1979. The Gauchos returned to the field of competition, winning the 1980 New York American Legion state “Class B” title and toured across the AIO, Key to the Sea  & U.S. Open “Class A” preliminaries, placing 26^th, 20^th and 26^th respectively.

The 1981 season saw the corps expand they're traveling with appearances in the prelims of the World Open “Class B” (20^th ), the Key to the Sea (10^th - Class A), the US Open (13^th - Class A), the Drum Corps East circuit, placing 25th and finally a return to the DCI “Class A” championships, where they finished in 34th position. In their final season of competition, the corps competed extensively, performing in the “Class A” division of the 1982 US Open (20^th), DCI Midwest (8^th), Key to the Sea (12^th), the New York State Legion contest (3^rd), culminating with a 25^th place finish in the DCI “Class A” preliminaries.

In 1983, they merged with the Greece Shoreliner Cadets to form the Cadets of Upstate New York.

Paul Legault (DCX)

Members (10)