Wilmington Crusaders

The Wilmington Youth Crusaders was a junior marching and maneuvering and parade corps founded around 1962 by ElRoy Wallace and his wife Ruth. Over the years some of the group’s assistant managers were Jimmy Shine, Robert Tillotson, Sr., Chuck Thibadeau, Harold Rezendes, and Bob Welch. Instructional staff included Jim Lutz, Sr., on bugles and Mike Cahill on percussion, as well as Lee "Sharpie" Gianangelle and Louie La Selva.

The Crusaders performed in exhibitions, parades, individuals, standstills, marching competitions, and winter guard contests. In competition, they worked their way up through the ranks of the Mayflower and Eastern Massachusetts Circuits through the years. In 1969 drum major Charlie "Silky" Southmaid (also known as one of the best rifle handlers ever in New England) led the Crusaders to their first championship in the Mayflower Circuit and third place in the Eastern Massachusetts Circuit. The group also placed ninth in Class B of the World Open Championships in Lynn, Massachusetts, that year.

A tragedy struck two of the Crusaders’ families, an event that forged a bond with other area drum corps who offered their support and friendship. The Dantes of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, were especially close to the Crusaders.

The group had a feeder corps called the Swordmen in at least the late 1960s.

In 1970 the Crusaders moved up to Class A contention, and their individual identity ended when they merged with the Beverly Cardinals to form the Wilmington Cardinals in 1974.

[Kevin Ness]

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