Emerald Cadets

The Emerald Cadets drum and bugle corps was formed in January of 1963 as the St. Aeden’s Emerald Cadets of New Haven as an intramural unit of the St. Aeden’s catholic school, under the direction of founder Father Peter G. Mitchell.

Their initial appearance was in the local 1963 Memorial Day parade as they integrated marching in their program the following year. They entered the field of competition on June 4^th, 1965, as members of the Greater New York (GNY) circuit, placing 14^th in the championships, participated in the World Open preliminary round, where they finished in 21^st position and placed 7^th in the Connecticut American Legion (AL) state convention.

The following season saw the corps continue its progression through the GNY circuit and performed in the prelims of both the 1967 AL Nationals and World Open “Class A” division, finishing 28^th and 21^st respectively. They concluded the season with a 10^th place ranking in the GNY circuit contest.

Over the next 3 years, the group resumed its World Open “Class A” preliminary appearances, placing 17^th (1968), 20^th (1969) & 26^th (1970) along with 5^th, 6^th & 7^th place finishes in the GNY circuit. In the fall of 1968, Father Mitchell was transferred to another catholic church, prompting the unit to become an independent entity and would therefore be known as the “Emerald Cadets”, under his direction. They also participated for one season in the 1970 Eastern States circuit, placing 7^th in the finals.

The following 3 seasons saw the corps expand their tour to include participation in the US Open championship prelims, placing 18^th in 1971 & 1972 and 22^nd in 1973 and after placing 20^th in the 1971 World Open “Class A” preliminaries, the corps successfully qualified for the 1972 & 1973 finals, placing 10^th both years. The Elm City unit, nicknamed for its historical embrace of public tree planting, particularly elms, also competed in the prestigious 1972 Danny Thomas Invitational and were crowned the 1973 Connecticut AL state champions.

The New Haven group continued its consistent performance levels with appearances in the 1974 American International Open (AIO) & the World Open, finishing 13^th in the prelims, with a 10^th place finish in the DCI East preliminaries and defended their AL state title.

In their last season of competition, the corps earned a finalist spot in the 1975 DCI East regionals, placing 8^th and ranked in the “Top 25” in the DCI “Open Class” championships, placing 25^th. They returned to preliminary action in both the AIO (17^th) & the World Open (18^th). Over the years, their instructional staff included such figures as Joe Genero & Art Hylwa on brass, Ray Luedee, Jim Duggan & John Bodnar on percussion and Bobby Daniels & Carmen Cluna on visual.

They merged with the Golden Buccaneers of Bridgeport in December of 1975 to form the Emerald Buccaneers.

Paul Legault (DCX)

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