Toronto Optimists' Photo Gallery

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The Georgian Lancers drum and bugle corps was formed in the fall of 1976 under the leadership of Sue Edwards, Rodger Tippin and Remi Blais.

The idea of forming a parade corps was first discussed by the three people who are now the Directors of the corps, Sue Edwards, Rodger Tippin and Remi Blais, in June of 1976. They were involved in instructing majorette groups in the Owen Sound and Meaford area. After a number of meetings, the recruiting program was unofficially started on July 1st when Mr. Tippin took three people to a corps exhibition in Port Dover. They attended about six more events after that, concluding with the Seneca Optimists perform their music for the new members of The Lancers and their parents in the high school gym on September 25th . Twelve recruits and ten adults attended the 1976 Canadian Nationals.

As in most smaller communities, the new corps received exce1lent co-operation from the local television station and newspaper, the Owen Sound Sun-Times in giving valued publicity to their program. The evening of September 9th, the cable station featured an interview, films and slides about drum corps to introduce the activity to the community and the Sept. 21st edition of the newspaper followed up with a 1/4 photo feature on the corps. In an interview with press representatives and the local radio and television station, Mr. Tippin, a Director of the corps, stated, "We had two objectives in asking the Optimists to appear in Owen Sound; to teach the community a little more about drum corps and to interest more kids in this area to get involved."

Competitively, the Georgian unit began in the 1977 Canadian Nationals “Junior E” division, placing 4th and moved up to the “Bantam Class” the following season, where they were crowned the 1978 Canadian National champions. The last 2 years saw the corps enter the field of competition with 3rd place finishes in both the 1979 Canada Central Circuit & Canadian Nationals “”Junior Cadets” class, concluding with another 3rd position in the 1980 Ontario Provincial “Cadet Class” championships.

In an attempt to adopt a different approach to the activity, they reorganized as the Northern Spirit “music group” in 1981.

Paul Legault (DCX)

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