Belles of St. Mary's

The Belles of St. Mary’s drum and bugle corps was formed in the fall of 1956 by Al and Delia DiGiacomo for St. Mary’s school girls starting with 36 members. You could start in the starter corps in 7th grade and stay in through high school.

Many Rhinelander residents will remember the Belles’ morning and evening practices that echoed through the community. The Belles would perform in many local parades donning their memorable tartan sashes and skirts. After their inaugural season of parades and exhibitions, the corps remained active the following year, increasing their presence within the community.

They entered the field of competition in 1958, traveling close to 2,000 miles and doubling their travels the following year, albeit mostly for parades and exhibitions throughout Wisconsin and Michigan. From 1961 to 1964 saw the corps continue its trend of competition within the Midwest and sponsored their first annual competition, “Drums in the Night” in 1962. The corps was especially well known for marching annually in the parade downtown prior to the competition.

In 1965, the corps went through a rebuilding year, competing mostly in the “Class C” division over the next seven years. During that time, the Belles were crowned the 1967 WI State Fair “Class C” champions, placed 3^rd at the 1970 State Fair. In 1967, the Belles of St. Mary's and their feeder corps, the Bellettes of St. Mary's, fielded between them a total of 17 girls named Mary.

They also competed at the WI VFW State “Class C” championships, finishing 4^th in 1970 and improved to 2^nd position the following season and came in 2^nd position at the 1971 World Pageant of Drums “Class C” championships. In 1972, the corps appeared at their first Nationals competition, placing 24^th at the VFW preliminaries in Minneapolis and began a series of annual East Coast tours in 1973 with stops at the American International Open (AIO) “All Girls” class, making the finals with a 3^rd place finish and the US Open “All Girls”, placing 8^th.

In 1974, the Belles returned to both the AIO and US Open “All Girls” class prelims, placing 5^th and 7^th respectively. They also participated once again at the VFW Nationals in Chicago, making the finals with a 10^th place finish and ranked tops amongst the “All Girl” corps. In the final two seasons of competition, the Belles of St. Mary’s competed at the AIO “All Girls” prelims (6^th – 1975 & 8^th – 1976), the US Open “All Girls” prelims (7^th – 1975) and the DCI “All Girls” prelims, placing 8^th in 1975 and 9^th in 1976.

The corps’ administrative board voted 5 to 3 to continue activity for the 1977 season and an attempt was made to their doors to male members but this didn’t materialize and the corps disbanded.

 Paul Legault (DCX)

CORPS 3 items

Belles of St. Mary's

BellesOfSt.Mary,Rhinelander,WI,Pin1(Site)AG_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

Belles of St. Mary's

BellesOfSt.Mary,Rhinelander,WI,Pin2-All-Girl(Site)AG_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

Belles of St. Mary's

BellesOfSt.Mary,Rhinelander,WI,Pin3-PlaidBelles(DHU)AG_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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