Golden Garrison

The Golden Garrison drum and bugle corps was formed in the fall of 1977 when some local people approached Barbara Weiss, a former director of Ypsilanti’s high school band, to request formation of a community corps.

In January 1978, after fund-raising events and establishment of regulations and by-laws, an open-house was held and a name was chosen from 20 entries in a contest, “Golden” signifying the Golden Triangle & “Garrison” derived from the Greek garrison, keeping with the city’s namesake. That summer, the corps competed in both the American Legion (AL) & VFW state contests. The following season saw the corps place 2^nd in both 1979 state championships, win the Great Lakes circuit “Class B” title and finish 19^th in the DCI North “Open Class” preliminary round.

The Garrison expanded their travel to include two “Class A” regional championships, placing 18^th in the 1980 Key to the Sea Open & 22^nd in the US Open while participating once again in both state conventions and the Great Lakes “Class A” division. The next year, the unit won the 1981 Great Lakes circuit “Class A” title, finished 2^nd in the AL state, made the finals of the Key & US Open championships, finishing in 6^th& 7^th respectively and closed out the season with a 6^th  place finish in the DCI “Class A” championships, missing from a finalist position by less than 5 tenths of a point.

In their final season of competition, the Golden Garrison became members of the Drum Corps Midwest circuit, placing 12^th in the prelims & 18^th in the DCI North contest along with 5^th & 6^th positions in the Key to the Sea & US Open “Class A” championships. The group closed out its competitive run by earning a finalist ranking in the DCI “Class A” championships, placing 6^th.

Due to financial challenges, they disbanded in 1983. 

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Canvas/3380/golden.html; Drum Corps World, 03/02, page 2; Paul Legault (DCX)

Members (10)