Dutchmen

The Dutchmen drum and bugle corps was originally formed as the Henry C. Hill Sons of American Legion (SAL) Squadron Post 37 of Quincy in 1935, under the direction of Jack Fromm.

In their inaugural season, the group performed in parades and exhibitions and entered the field of competition in 1937, continuing to build during their formative years. The corps dominated the Illinois State Fair champions 1939, 1940, 1941 & 1946, 1947, 1948, the American Legion (AL) conventions as State champions 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945 & 1946 & was crowned the 1946 AL National champions as the Hill-Amery SAL Post 37, returning to the 1947 Legion Nationals where they finished in fourth position. In the fall of 1949, a local announcer nicknamed the unit as the “Flying Dutchmen”, given the German heritage of Quincy and the corps full stride step, fondly adopted by the organization.

From 1950 to 1953, the corps competed in the Illinois Legion state championships finishing between 2^nd  to 4^th position over that time, as well as the Illinois State Fair, where they placed 2^nd in 1952 and 3^rd in 1953. By 1954, the corps had lost most of its membership during the Korean War years and effectively placed 8^th (1954) & 9^th (1955) in the Illinois State contests and participated in the preliminaries of the Illinois State Fair. The corps reorganized in 1956 as the Trojans and rebounded with 3rd and 4th place finishes in both the 1956 State and State Fair championships respectively. The following year saw the corps placed 4^th in the 1958 State convention and participated in the American Legion National championships where they finished in 13th position.

Other honors earned by the Trojans included opening the Chicagoland music festival and earning the governors rotating trophy for highest score by any competing unit in the Illinois State Fair. The Quincy unit met with financial issues as they went inactive in 1959 with only a drill team representing the Post that year.

After a 13 year hiatus, the Flying Dutchmen were reactivated in 1972 as a result of a reunion of former members of the Trojans and Debutantes “All-Girls”, as a coed parade corps, returning to field competition in 1973 as members of the Mid-American circuit and participated in the DCI championships, where they finished in 48^th position. The next 3 seasons saw the corps place 6th in the 1974 & 1975 Illinois State Fair finals along with a 12^th place finish in the preliminary round of the 1974 Mid-American circuit contest and an appearance in the 1976 Illinois State fair preliminaries.

In 1977, the corps toured extensively throughout the Midwest, traveling in Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky and Illinois, competing in the Mid-American circuit finals, placing 4^th, the DCI Midwest regional championships, where they placed in 25th position in the prelims, the AL Nationals, placing 24th in the preliminaries and concluding the season with a 14th place finish in the DCI “Class A” prelims. The corps returned to the 1978 AL Nationals’ prelims, where they finished in 15th position and in their final competitive season, now known as the Dutchmen, the unit travelled through Florida, Texas, Colorado and Alabama on  their way to a 17th place finish in the 199 DCI “Class A" preliminaries.

They disbanded in 1980.

Flying Dutchmen - Facebook; Paul Legault (DCX)

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