The Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
. . . March On!
Site Map
Here you'll find links to all of the pages on our website.
- Alumni Corps
- About Us
- GCCs, Yearbooks and more
- Order form to have printed GCC delivered
- Green Capsule Comments
- Gold Capsule Comments
- Information Drum Corps
- Green and Gold Capsule Comments
- Order form to have printed GCC delivered
- Introduction to G&GCC (December, 2009)
- January 2010 (Inaugural Edition)
- April 2010
- Yearbooks and More
- Home Page
- Our Constitution (Acrobat File)
- Our Instructors
- Our Sponsors & Suppliers
- Rehearsal Reports
- A Beautiful Noise (by Vern Johansson)
- Making My Family Happy (by Ted Wilson)
- Up From The Basement (Vol 1) (by Ted Wilson)
- Up From The Basement (Vol 2) (by Ted Wilson)
- Up From The Basement (Vol 3) (by Ted Wilson)
- Common Goals and Greatness (by Kevin Matthew)
- Sucked In Like A May Fly (by Gord LeFevre)
- We're A Drum Corps (by Gord LeFevre)
- Notes From The Back Of A Pickup Truck (by Ted Wilson)
- Post-G.A.S. Ponderings (by Gord LeFevre)
- I Love A Parade (by Gord LeFevre)
- Waterford Show Ponderings (by Gord LeFevre)
- More Than Just a Song (by Brian Hogan)
- Tribute To a Humble Genius (by Brian Hogan)
- The Thrill of Drill (by Bill Kane)
- The Strange Case of the City of Toronto Flag (by Phil Hennings)
- Opti-Corps
- Sales and Donations
- Site Map
- Stay Connected!
- Upcoming Performances
- Want To Join Us?
- Alumni Corps Brochure (Acrobat File)
- Google Maps to Rehearsals
- Acrobat Maps to Rehearsals
-
Members
- Brass & Percussion Goodies
- Combined Rehearsal & Performance Schedule
- Download Schedule in Acrobat format
- Maps
- The Legion
- St Mike's
- Contact information for Corps Members
- Drill related pages
- Our Members (Photos and a few words)
- Instructions and Notes
- Taking care of our uniforms (Acrobat file)
- News of Interest to Corps Members
- Optimists Corps Song (Acrobat File)
- Sheet Music Downloads
- Our History
- 50th anniversary!
- 50 Years of Drum Corps in Canada (7 meg Acrobat File)
- Drum Corps Hall of Fame Members
- Optimists Alumni: The Beginnings
- Acrobat file notifying people of the first rehearsal of the Alumni Corps
- Memories from the Past
- Memories of the Years
- Memories from Other Sources
- 1958: The Strange Case of the City Hall Flag (by Phil Hennings)
- 1962: Bill Thorne interviews Joe Gianna & Doug Mackenzie (Acrobat file, from Green capsule Comments)
- 1963 Individuals Results from Dec 1963 Off The Line Magazine ((Acrobat file, 250k)
- 1964 Article on the Optimists (Acrobat file from the April 23, 1964 issue of the Toronto Telegram )
- 1965 Year Book (Acrobat file) (5.8 mgs)
- 1968: How Rick Roussel became an Optimist (by Ray Roussel)
- 1977 article on Ken Mulgrew of the Seneca Optimists (6.8 mg Acrobat file)
- Our Members Marched With...
- Canadian Commanders
- Danforth Tech
- De La Salle "Oaklands"
- Etobicoke Crusaders
- Golden Monarchs
- Grantham Police Boys Band
- Guelph Royalaires
- Hamilton Conqueror
- Jolly Jesters & Jesters
- Leaside Lions
- Oakland Crusaders
- Opti-Corps
- Optimist Lancers & Cadet Lancers
- Scarborough Firefighters / Seneca Princemen
- Seneca Optimists
- Simcoe United Alumni
- Toronto Optimists
- Toronto Signals
- Western Tech
- excerpt from the 1954–55 Western Tech Yearbook
- York Lions
- Our Optimist Roots (by Vern Johansson)
- Download the complete article in Acrobat Format (Acrobat File)
- The Beginnings
- Acrobat file (winning 1958 Canadian Championships in Galt)
- Their Hearts Belong to Daddy
- JPG File (the 1956 Championship certificate)
- Are These Guys for Real?
- On, March On
- Maybe This Green Machine Has too Many Miles On It
- "You Better Bleed on the Finish Line"
- Acrobat file on the 1962 Rome, NY show (2 megs)
- How Long Can This Machine Last?
- The Field Is Still Green, But the Sky Is Cloudy
- Happy Birthday, Canada
- Acrobat file (winning 1967 Nationals)
- Small, But Mighty
- Those Were The Days
- Seneca Optimists (1 + 1 = 1)
- Former Optimists
- Scrapbooks (these are Acrobat files)
- We Remember those who have gone (web page intro)
- We Remember (Acrobat File with photos and a few words)
- We Remember (Acrobat File with photos and a few words)
- Slideshows
- We Remember...
- Optimists Alumni: 2009 in review
- added March 17, 2010
- All of the photos in this video slide-show of the Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle corps were taken during 2009. We've included photos from rehearsals and social events as well as photos from concerts, parades and field shows.
- Flash 8 version
- Optimists Alumni: 2008 in review
- added August 3, 2009
- All of the photos in this video slide-show of the Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle corps were taken during 2008. We've included a few photos from rehearsals, photos from the reunion and photos from a number of performances.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Optimists Alumni: 2007 in review
- added April 8, 2008
- All of the photos in this video slide-show of the Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle corps were taken during 2007. We've included a few photos from rehearsals as well as photos from a variety of performances.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Optimists Alumni: Evolution
- added August 1, 2007
- This short video contains photos of the Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle corps. There are rehearsal photos and photos of performances covering the period from its formation in 2003 until 2007.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Optimists: Then & Now (slideshow)
- added February 3, 2007
- This short video contains photos of the Toronto Optimists and the Seneca Optimists. The photos cover the period from about 1957 through 1977. There are also a couple of photos of the Alumni corps that were taken at Waterloo, ON in 2006.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Seneca Optimists: 1977 in review
- added June 25, 2008
- This video contains photos of the 1977 Seneca Optimists Drum & Bugle corps. It uses the 1977 field show as an audio background. There are rehearsal photos, casual shots and photos of performances. All of the photos were taken during the summer of 1977.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Seneca Optimists Colour Guard
- added April 8, 2010
- The Optimists Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps are proud to announce a Tribute to the Seneca Optimists Colour Guard. (added April 8, 2010)
- Flash 8 format
- Our Members Marched With....
- added April 30, 2007
- This short video contains photos of many different corps, each of which has one or more members in the Optimists Alumni. Unfortunately, at this point, I don't have photos of all the corps represented by our membership.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- Video Files
- 1958 Toronto Optimists
- added August 26, 2009
- This video footage of the 1958 Toronto Optimists was supplied to us by Phil Hennings, the first Drum major of the Toronto Optimists. The event was a competition at East York stadium in Toronto. While there's no audio it's nice to be able to see the Toronto Optimists in their first ever competition.
- Flash 7 version (smaller images & lower resolution)
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- 1961 Grape Festival parade
- added December 7, 2009
- This video footage contains raw footage of the 1961 Grape Festival parade in St Catharines. Some of the corps seen in this footage are: St John's, Del, Royalaires, Militaires, Opti, Merritton and Jesters. Unfortunately there was no audio recorded.
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- 1963 Toronto Optimists
- added February 3, 2010
- This video footage shows the 1963 Toronto Optimists. You can see the Lawrence of Arabia fanfare and the wedge which formed our Off the Line. There's also a bit of concert. Unfortunately, there is no audio.
- Flash 8 version (bigger images & higher resolution)
- 1964 or 1965 Grantham on Parade
- added December 8, 2009
- This video footage was recorded in 1964 or 1965 in Toronto. It shows Grantham in the parade that preceded the Nationals. Unfortunately no audio was recorded.
- Flash 8 format
- 1964 Nationals Prelims
- added December 16, 2009
- This video footage was recorded in 1964 at Varsity stadium in Toronto at the prelims for the Nationals. It includes footage of Del, Opti, York Lions and Scout House. Unfortunately no audio was recorded.
- Flash 8 format
- 1964 or 1965 Parade before the Nationals
- added January 1, 2010
- This video footage was recorded on in either 1964 or 1965 in Toronto. It shows some of corps that were in the parade before the Nationals. Maybe you can recognize some of the corps. Unfortunately no audio was recorded.
- Flash 8 format
- DCA Alumni Spectacular
- 2008 DCA Alumni Spectacular: Lawrence of Arabia / El Cid (recorded on August 31, 2008)
- 2009 DCA Alumni Spectacular: Lawrence of Arabia / El Cid (recorded on September 6, 2009)
- 1958 Toronto Optimists
- YouTube Videos
- Recorded on July 27, 2008 in Hamilton, ON
- Lawrence of Arabia / El Cid (posted by Peter McCusker)
- Recorded on August 29, 2009 in Oshawa, ON
- Lawrence of Arabia / El Cid (posted by Peter McCusker)
- Big Band Concert (posted by Peter McCusker)
- Battle Cry (posted by Peter McCusker)
- Patton (posted by Peter McCusker)
- San Francisco (posted by Peter McCusker)
- You'll Never Walk Alone with Scout House & Simcoe United Alumni (posted by Peter McCusker)
- Recorded on July 27, 2008 in Hamilton, ON