Barons of Steuben

The Barons of Southern Tier drum and bugle corps traced their roots back to 1961 as a breakaway parade corps from the Crystal Raiders of Corning. They were named the Corning Moose Lodge Junior drum corps under the sponsorship of the Corning Moose Lodge. On September 17th, 1963, Eldee Andrew, Ernest Van Kurin, John Root, Fran Smith and Richard Van Kurin wanted to expand the group and reorganized as an independent self-supporting corps.

The Barons of Steuben were born, sponsored by the Faulisi Whipple AL Post 1252 of Corning and proudly carried the flag of the 13 colonies, the first flag to be adopted by an act of Congress. They were members of the NY Canadian circuit and longtime members of the Penn York circuit. After their initial season of parades and exhibitions, the Barons entered the field of competition in 1965 and competed regionally in their first season, participating in the 1966 NY Canadian championships, placing 13^th in the prelims.

In 1967, they took part in the New York state championships, placing 17^th and the American Legion Nationals, held in Boston where they finished in 43rd position. The following year, the corps competed at the first annual Penn York championships, placing 6^th in the “Class A” division and finished 14th at the 1969 Penn York prelims. In 1970, the corps traveled to Boston once again, this time to compete at the World Open “Class B” championship prelims, placing 13^th and participated at the 1971 Canadian Open and US Open championships, finishing 11th and 17^th in the “Class A” preliminaries, respectively.

On June 17^th, 1972, the Steuben competed at what would be their last field show that year as they were involved in a devastating flood that destroyed a large part of their uniforms and equipment. They regrouped for the 1973 season competitive season, participating at the American International Open “Class A” prelims, placing 30th but went inactive over the next two years. In the fall of 1975, the corps reorganized and returned to the field of competition, participating at the 1976 World Open “Class B” prelims, finishing in 22nd position.

In 1977, the Barons participated in the NY state championships, placing 10^th and returned to the World Open “Class B” prelims, placing 21^st. Over the next two seasons, the corps appeared at several regional championships including the “Class A” preliminaries at the American International Open (20^th - 1978, 15^th - 1979) and the US Open (28^th – 1978, 17^th - 1979). They also
competed at the 1978 World Open “Class B” championships, placing 27^th. In 1980, the Barons unit competed at their first DCI “Class A” championships, placing 17th and remained active as a parade corps in 1981.

 The corps returned to the competitive scene in 1982, placing 26^th at the DCI prelims and competed at the 1983 Key to the Sea Open “Class A”, finishing 25^th with appearances at the NY state and Drum Corps NY (DCNY) championships, placing 5^th in both. In an effort to increase their presence in the region, the corps was renamed as the Barons of Southern Tier in 1984 and was crowned the DCNY “Class C” champions in their final year of competition.  

In an attempt to stay active, the organization fused into Quest, a local parade corps, but after the 1985 season, disbanded.

Members (6)