Commanders

The Canadian Commanders were formed in November of 1963, through merger of two Ontario corps. The Jesters from Toronto and the Viscounts from Hamilton were both struggling to maintain a respectable presence on the Canadian senior drum corps scene at the time, so Vince Macciocchi of the Jesters and Fred Hawkes of the Viscounts and joined forces and gained the sponsorship of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Association.

The newly formed Commanders, under the directorship of Bernie Beers, were founded on the principle that everyone would march, so that no one would miss out on the experience. The corps started rehearsals in several locations simultaneously in late 1963; in Toronto on Tuesday, in Hamilton on Thursday and in Oakville on Sundays. Because of the split rehearsal locales, the corps was announced at contests as being from the different rehearsal towns on different nights: Canadian Commanders of Toronto one night, Canadian Commanders of Hamilton the next.

As for the proviso that everyone marched, the Commanders fielded an unusually large corps right from the beginning. The very first public appearance was in an indoor arena in St. Catharines. The director decided to split all sections of the large corps in half and send them on separately. The first half marched in to thunderous applause and lined up across the arena floor; they covered the floor from one side to the other and then some. Drum Major Don Chisholm brought the horns up and made as if to play, whereupon the doors opened again and the second half of the corps marched in, to the astonishment of the audience. The corps spread across the width of the arena three times. No one had ever seen a corps that big before. The crowd reaction left goose bumps on corps members for hours and memories for a lifetime.

That first night the corps members had all the components of their uniform except for the bright orange tunics, so they went on in corps tee shirts. Designed by Drum Major Don Chisholm, the complete orange uniforms were so bright that they led to the corps nickname of Great Pumpkin. The corps also operated under the moniker of The Stop Light Cadets. In 1964, the first competing season, the Commanders took 2^nd position in the Canadian “Class A” championships, being narrowly beaten out by the Guelph Royalaires, placing 3^rd the following season in the 1965 Canadian Nationals. They had the honor of being invited to the 1966 American Legion Nationals in Washington where they performed as an exhibition during the preliminary round. That year, the corps finished 2^nd in both the New York (NY) Canadian and the Canadian Nationals, by a one-tenth spread from the champions. The Canadian Commanders returned to a 3^rd place finish in the 1967 NY Canadian along with finishing 2^nd in the Canadian Nationals, placing 3^rd in the 1968 Nationals. The Commanders’ sister corps during those years was the Rochester Crusaders. It was not uncommon for corps members to borrow each other’s instruments or play in each other’s lines during the retreat.

The corps became the Commanders when they gained the sponsorship of the city of Burlington in the fall of 1968. Unfortunately, by June of 1969, the relocated corps went inactive until late 1969, when it was resurrected under the sponsorship of the Burlington, Ontario Parks and Recreation Department under the guidance of Laurie Branch. Laurie was the director of the Parks and Recreation Department but was no stranger to drum corps, having been drum major of the old Kitchener Flying Dutchmen senior corps in the 1960's.

The new "Burlington" Commanders continued in the same trademark fluorescent orange uniform tops and in 1970 competed in the senior Red Carpet Association (RCA), placing 6^th,
the Ontario provincials finishing in 3^rd position and finally a 4^th place finish in the Canadian Nationals. In 1971, the corps was fortunate to absorb many members of the folded Marching Ambassadors of Toronto and went on to win both the Provincial and the Canadian Nationals contests. They also placed 2^nd in the 1971 RCA championships and topped off the season with an 11^th place finish in the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) preliminaries. Over the next two years, the Burlington unit competed as members of the DCA circuit, placing 11^th in the 1972 finals and 14^th in the 1973 championships. 

They disbanded n 1974 as some members returned to their roots with the Toronto Signals Regiment Trumpet Band and the Hamilton Firefighters drum corps. Many other Commander veterans could be found performing with various alumni corps.