Belles of St. Mary's

The Belles of St. Mary’s drum and bugle corps was originally organized as the Gloucester Catholic High School “All Girls” drum corps in 1949 by Father Mark Joseph Hayden of the St. Mary’s parish of Gloucester.

Initially, the corps performed at halftime ceremonies for the football season as a baton twirling group of 12 girls. In 1951, Reverend Hayden was transferred to the St. Nicholas church in Egg Harbor and William J Harvey took over the directorship. Under his guidance, the corps gradually added a color guard and a drum and bugle section and in 1952, joined the South Jersey League Association and competed over the next five years as a parade and exhibition corps. Their uniforms were maroon, gold and white.

In 1957, the corps, renamed the Belles of St. Mary’s, joined the South Jersey Drum and Bugle Corps Association, entering the field of competition and sponsoring their first annual show. They finished 5^th at the Association championships. The following season saw the corps finish in 4^th place in the South Jersey circuit and moved up to a 3^rd place finish in 1959 along with a 12^th place finish at the NJ VFW state championships.

In 1960, they were selected by President John F. Kennedy to represent the state of New Jersey in his Inaugural parade in Washington. After years of success in the South Jersey circuit, the Belles joined the Tri-State and National Drum Corps Associations that same year, appearing along the Eastern seaboard. They improved to a 9^th place finish at the NJ VFW state championships and competed at the National Association “Round Robin”, placing 4^th.

The Gloucester unit continued their competitive success over the next three seasons going head to head with a stronger field of competition and faring reasonably well. They place 10^th at the 1963 NJ VFW state championships. In 1964, the corps continued to expand their competitive path, joining the Greater New York circuit and participated once again at the NJ VFW state championships, placing 16^th. When Pope Paul VI visited the United Nations in 1965, the Belles of St. Mary’s represented the Camden Diocese. That same year, the corps placed 18th at the World Open championships in Boston, ranking 2^nd amongst the “All Girls” corps.

The corps once again attended both 1966 state AL and VFW championships, finishing in 10^th and 6th position respectively. In 1967, the Belles defeated every other all girl drum corps in the state, including the highly regarded Audubon Bon-Bons on their way to a 9^th place finish at the NJ American Legion championships. In 1968, the corps once again joined another circuit, the Eastern States, allowing the corps to remain competitive within the eastern drum corps community.

They followed the next year with appearances at both 1969 National championships, placing 17^th at the American Legion convention and 59^th at the VFW Nationals. The corps completed the season with an 11^th place finish at the NJ AL state championships. In their final season of competition, the St. Mary’s unit finished 8^th at the Eastern States circuit championships before going inactive in 1971. Some of the other individuals responsible for many of the corps’ successes over the years  included Reverend William Fallon, John Rowan, Vince Deegan, Joe Marella and Whitney Roberts.

In the fall of 1971, the Belles of St. Mary’s integrated males into the corps and formed the St. Mary’s Cadets of Gloucester, a coed competitive corps. And so closed a chapter in the “All Girls” drum corps book that made the Gloucester city very proud and helped enrich the activity.

Wikipedia; http://www.myspace.com/thebellesofstmarys; DCW, 6/29/90, p.9; Paul Legault (DCX)

CORPS 3 items

Belles of St. Mary's

Belles of St Mary Uniform 1960 from the Bill Ives Collection Contributed by Terry Taylor

Belles of St. Mary's

BellesOfSt.Mary,GloucesterCity,NJ,Patch1-St.Marys(SWN)AG_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by UNKNOWN

Belles of St. Mary's

BellesOfSt.Mary,GloucesterCity,NJ,PN1-CatholicHighSchool(BIV)AG_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection

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