Legion drum and bugle group celebrates 100 years of making music and memories.

A (very) long-running American Legion junior drum and bugle corps marked its 100th anniversary in 
October, in what was both a celebration and a good-bye.

In 1922, a Boy Scout troop in Bristol, Pa., added drums and then bugles to their parade troop and began calling themselves the Cadets of Bristol. In 1924, in need of a sponsor, they reached out to the local Robert W. Bracken American Legion Post 382.

Post 382 received its initial charter in 1919; Bracken was the first Bristol resident killed in World War I. According to Art Younglove, the post’s adjutant and a former corps member and director, the Cadets were adopted “initially … to provide patriotic music to various events – Memorial Day, Veterans Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas parades,” as well as to keep Bracken’s name before the community. Over the decades, they performed for U.S. presidents and in venues like Madison Square Garden.

The corps, renamed the Bracken Cavaliers, also competed in American Legion competitions, winning innumerable Pennsylvania state titles as well as Eastern States championships, and placements as high as second in national competitions. The National Legionnaire reported the Cavaliers’ appearance in the 1937 national convention parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City: “A flare of orange plumes. The crack drum corps of the Robert W. Bracken Post No. 382, of Bristol, led by two beautiful girl drum majors in creamy silks.”

The Cavaliers Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps was established in 2000. In recent years, they had expanded to visiting and performing in veterans homes. Also in recent years, in preparation for the centennial celebration, Younglove solicited and collected all sorts of memorabilia for display, from program books to photographs to letters from corps parents. The local senior center would ultimately host 60 tri-fold display boards on tables.

The anniversary celebration was held Oct. 19; “We tie our celebration into Historic Bristol Day activities,” Younglove said, “so our returning alumni can enjoy what their old hometown celebrates every year in addition to the corps' celebration events.” The group played old numbers from their competition days, and a mural painted on a downtown building, celebrating the corps’ history, was dedicated. The alumni were joined by community and Post 382 members. The weekend also featured three different group meals, opportunities to trade stories and memories.

In a way, the centennial celebration was a perfect time for the Cavaliers to say good-bye; the mural dedication was their final performance. As Younglove put it, “Age has caught up to them.” But the music has not died in Bristol – area members have formed a community band made up of a full range of instruments. Said Younglove, “It is turning out to be quite successful.”