Holy Trinity Cadets

The Holy Trinity Cadets drum and bugle corps was formed in 1951 by the Reverend Robert J. Carr, their longtime leader and Reverend Ignatius Pennisi, both Jesuit priests, and was supported by the Holy Trinity church of Boston.

Reverend Carr, a Jesuit priest who took a group of young people, gave them something to work for, and, by his words and constant example, showed them how to live the command of the Master that they "love one another". In 1951, became members of the CYO Circuit Music Festival as the Holy Trinity band and later that year later reorganized as the Holy Trinity Cadets, an all-male drum and bugle section and an all-girl color guard field competitive unit.

From their humble beginnings, the Cadets lived a hand-to-mouth life. Money for uniforms and equipment was so scarce as to be almost non-existent, but Father Carr managed to keep his corps together. He received assistance from many sources, but most especially from members of the Most Precious Blood Crusaders of Hyde Park and their manager, Ed Rooney. The music instructor was George Jannette, who was then less than 16. The uniforms were second-hand white duck pants, jackets of faded blue, and Fort Kent hats that had been worn by another unit in the North End. In such attire, the Cadets made their first public appearance, at a Patriot's Day parade in Lexington in 1952 and their first competitive season in the CYO circuit.

Father Carr adopted what cynics would deem an impractical method to raise enough money to keep the corps going. He left the whole problem in the hands of St. Joseph, perhaps on the theory that the Saint could worry about that, while he worried about everything else. And, because he is a man of great faith, he was not greatly surprised that it worked. There was, for instance, the time at a Sports Night that a man approached him and said he would like to donate to the corps. He showed up at the rectory the following day with a check for $500 and an explanation.

"My brother died recently and left me this," he said. "I know that, if I kept it for myself, I'd waste it, and I thought perhaps the kids could use it more." Another time, Fr. Carr dropped in on an old friend, Attorney James H. Flanagan. The priest was wondering then, where he was going to get the cash for some new bugles and drums, but his purpose, in seeing Flanagan, was not to talk about his troubles but merely to pass the time of day. The lawyer broke into the conversation with a question that left Father Carr slightly short of breath. "Could you use some money for musical instruments?" he asked. It developed that one of Flanagan's clients had just died and left money in his will to buy instruments for boys. Fr. Carr came out of that conversation with another $500. The Cadets were given a quantity of uniform material by clothing tycoon Elmer Ward and, with the help of individual parents, were able to sport their first new uniforms. It was these same parents whose determination & hard work over the years, provided new bugles, plumes, sabers, flags, and whatever else was needed in the way of equipment.

The Cadets, sporting their blue & white colors, won the “Class C” Eastern Massachusetts (E-Mass) circuit, the CYO “Junior” division and the Archdiocesan “Class II” championships in 1953, and the E-Mass “Class B” crown in 1954. In 1955, they were promoted to “Class A” competition, where, in the words of Father Carr, "They stayed ever since, for better or worse." That year saw the corps place 2^nd in the E-Mass contest and participated in their one and only Nationals, placing 7^th in the VFW National finals.

From 1956 to 1960, their horizons were broadened by trips they made through upstate New York, Canada, and the Midwest, playing in parades and competitions and giving exhibitions all along the way. They remained competitive in both the E-Mass and CYO circuits against the best junior corps in this area, and it was typical of drum corps activity that their most fervent rooters were members of a rival unit, St. Mary's of Beverly, in the heart of the socialite and lace-curtain country. And, though they had lost far more often than they had won, they had demonstrated always one of the true values of drum corps activity, the ability of those of different racial strains to rise above the mire of prejudice and work together in friendship and mutual respect. The Holy Trinity Cadets placed 5^th & 6^th in the E-Mass “Class A” circuit in 1959 & 1960, respectively and in a deviation for a church-sponsored corps, when the group's 1959 repertoire included "Nude Descending a Staircase."

At the conclusion of their 1961 field competitive season, the Boston unit bid farewell to their leader, Father Carr, the heart & soul of the organization, as the corps competed for one last year in 1962, ending a colorful career of youngsters who were up in the thick of things competitively for many years.

They disbanded in 1963.

DCW, 4/04, p.3; Paul Legault (DCX)

CORPS 3 items

Holy Trinity Cadets

Holy Trinity Cadets Alumni from the Bill Ives Collection

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Holy Trinity Cadets

HolyTrinityCadets,Boston,MA,LP1-Alumni(BIV-1.0x1.0)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Bill Ives

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Holy Trinity Cadets

HolyTrinityCadets,Boston,MA,Patch1-HolyTrinity(RPE)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Robert Pero

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