Golden Statesmen

The Golden Statesmen drum and bugle corps was originally formed in March of 1963 as the Pacific Beach Albacores and was sponsored by the Pacific Beach VFW Post 5985 of San Diego.

Sporting their corps colors of green and gold, they participated in parades and exhibitions until 1965, when they entered the field of competition with an appearance at the California State American Legion (AL) championships, placing 12^th overall. In 1967, the corps was granted permission to compete in the “Class B” division of the Southern California (SoCal) drum corps circuit, moving up to the “Class A” division the following year. In 1969, under the sponsorship of the San Diego AL Post 6, the group was reorganized as the Golden Statesmen and continued competition in the SoCal circuit until 1974, when the unit was crowned the 1974 “Class B” champions.

While traveling to a parade in Long Beach in 1970, the corps' bus broke down. Corps members hitched a ride on a motorcycle, one corpsman at a time, ten separate trips, to the parade's starting line. They almost made it, but the motorcycle wasn't fast enough to get all the corps members and their instruments to the parade on time, and they and the cyclist ended up watching the parade. The corps participated in the 1971 AL Nationals, placing 11^th in the preliminary round and competed regionally until 1975. In the spring of 1976, performed at a standstill competition but were unable to once again field competitively. The Statesmen remained active in 1977.

They disbanded in 1978.

Encyclopedia of Drum and Bugle Corps, 1966; DCW, 2/04, p.3; Paul Legault (DCX)

Members (6)