Annunciators

St. Mary’s Annunciators drum and bugle corps was formed in 1954 by the St. Mary’s of the Annunciation church of Cambridge. They were an additional program to the pre-existing St. Mary’s Drill team. They wore satin shirts with shakos and plumes and their corps colors were red, white and black and competed in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) and the Eastern Massachusetts (E Mass) circuits.

In their inaugural season, the corps managed to win the CYO “Class II” straight marching (parade) championships, and continued participation within the CYO circuit the following year, entered the field of competition in 1956, joining the E Mass circuit. That year, they adopted a new uniform and theme. The uniforms were virtually identical to the Hawthorne Caballeros, and the theme was Spanish. The corps director was Dick Keough, the staff included Al Saia on brass, Don Benedict on percussion and Jack Whelan on drill. The move proved successful as they won the E Mass circuit “Class B” championships.

As a result of the look and the music people began to call them the "Cambridge Caballeros". The corps adopted it as an unofficial nickname. In the fall of 1956, the parish received a new priest who was very interested in drum corps, Father John Crowley. Due to differences in vision for the corps, both the corps director and the staff had resigned and a splinter group was formed, the official "Cambridge Caballeros". Most of the senior members joined the new group and Father Crowley promoted the Annunciators feeder corps to take over as the Annunciators. 

In 1957, the corps competed within the E Mass “Class B” circuit and remained active the following year in parades and exhibitions. Over the next two seasons, the Annunciators went inactive and reorganized, returning to the field of competition in 1961, competing the next three seasons in the CYO “Class B” circuit. In 1964, the corps began to show great strides in their Class rankings and finished the season as champions of both the CYO “Prep” division and the E Mass “A2” class.

The following season saw the corps enjoy what was to be considered their best year competitively, as they moved up to the E Mass “Class A” division with success. In 1966, the corps returned to both CYO And E Mass competition before going inactive one again the following year. The St. Mary’s church was no longer sponsoring the corps and they reorganized under new sponsorship in 1968, relocated to Somerville, returning to the field of competition as members of the CYO circuit. That year, they finished 2^nd in the “Class C” division.

The following year saw the corps promoted to the “Prep Class” at the CYO, placing 3^rd and competed at the 1970 World Open “Class B” championships, finishing in 12^th position. They were also crowned the 1970 CYO “Prep” champions and finished 2^nd at the E Mass “A2 Class” championships. The next two seasons would be a struggle as the corps received sponsorship from the Waverley VFW Post 1272 and the Lions Club of Somerville while maintaining a competitive status in both the CYO and E Mass “A2” circuits.

They managed to finish in 3rd place in CYO competition those two years with 5^th (1971) and 4^th (1972) positions finishes in “A2” competition. They also competed for one single year at the Mayflower circuit championships. In the fall of 1972, the corps received sponsorship from the 220^th Infantry of the National Guard, providing transportation and a solid base of operations for the group. The corps was renamed the “Annunciators First Corps Cadets”. They continued competing within the CYO and E Mass in 1973 with identical results as the previous year but had definitely improved year over year. In 1974, they returned to the World Open “Class B” preliminaries, placing 22nd and won the CYO “Prep” championships.

In the fall of 1974, the Annunciators Juniors, feeder corps for the Annunciators split from the main unit and reorganized as the First Corps Cadets. The Annunciators were no longer supported by the National Guard Infantry but remained active that season. In 1976, the corps returned to field competition, placing 6^th at the E Mass “A2” division championships and competed the following two season at the World Open “Class B” championships, finishing 19^th (1977) and 13^th (1978) respectively. They closed out those seasons with appearances at the E Mass “A2” finals with a 4^th (1977) and a 3^rd place (1978) before re-merging with the First Corps Cadets in the fall of 1978 to form the Somerville Cavalliers. 

The corps met with turbulence and great success over the years but yet managed to persist and persevere.

Submitted by Gil Norton; Paul Legault (DCX)

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