Young Persons Guide to the Drum Corps (B. Britten, arr.)
Drum Solo - Chingo?
Chicago Medley (Beginnings, Colour My World, Does Anybody Know What Time it is?)
Send in the Clowns
Dam Busters
Article from the The Banner(Aurora), May,30, 1979:
Rehearsal brings complaints
A rehearsal of the Ambassadors Drum and Bugle Corps came to an abrupt halt in Lions Park Monday night [May 28] when a York Regional Police officer threatened to charge the musicians with breaking Newmarket's noise bylaw.
The officer was acting on a complaint from six homeowners on neighbouring Timothy Street.
Hearing of the dispute shortly after the rehearsal's sudden end, Newmarket Recreation Committee resolved to find a better location for the corps practices.
Paul Kelly, of 384 Timothy Street called police at 7:20 p.m. about 20 minutes into the 70-member corps' second rehearsal in the park this year. After a visit by a police officer, the Ambassadors packed up their drums and horns at about 7:50 p.m.
Mr. Kelly and other Timothy Street residents interviewed yesterday said they had enough Ambassadors' music during the corps' first summer of Lions Park rehearsals last year.
"We put up with them all last year, but when they came around again this year, we said. "That's enough," Mr. Kelly said.
Mr. Kelly said the corps rehearsed from two to four times a week in the park last year, and usually practises the same 10-minute program of music over and over. Evening rehearsals run to 9 p.m. and often keep his pre-school children up, he said.
Mr. Kelly's wife Eileen said residents wouldn't mind taking their share of rehearsals if they were rotated among all Town parks.
Another Timothy Street resident said rehearsals are so loud "that we can't even talk in our backyard ...I thought they were coming right in the back door."
The neighbors are circulating a petition to stop the rehearsals.
During its Monday night meeting, Newmarket Recreation Committee heard about the showdown from Bob Midleton, a member of the Ambassadors executive who also acts as the liason between the corps and its sponsor, the Newmarket Lions Club. Mr. Middleton brought the police officer along with him to the meeting.
Recreation chairman, Peter hall, who by day works as a bylaw enforcement officer for the City of North York, soon concluded the neighbors had an airtight case, and the committee should find a new rehearsal grounds.
"At full force they'd be almost unbearable and they admit that." Councillor Hall said.
Councillors batted around a score of possible locations for rehearsals, with the parking lot of the Reininger Ltd. factory on Twinney Crescent emerging as the most likely one. The lot already is used for rehearsals when a grass surface is not needed, and the company provides the necessary washroom facilities. [I don't remember any washrooms there. - Sam]
Most other sites would be too close to residential areas, repeating the Lions Park problem, councillors concluded.
But Ambassadors director Paul Ranson said yesterday that the corps needs a grassed area the size of a football field to practice its drills.
With the busy season of competitions and weekend performances approaching, "We're down to the wire and there's no place left to practice," Mr. Ranson said.
Mr. Ranson noted that when the Ambassadors were based in Aurora, four summers of outdoor practce near a residential area never drew a complaint.
"I find it an absolute insult that these people consider what we are doing to be noise," Mr. Ranson said. "We were given national championships for that 'noise'".
"These six people on Timothy street are stopping the recreation of 70-odd kids," he said. Mr. Ranson said the neighbors are hurting the image of a youth group that has made a large contribution to the community, and that the neighbors are "totally selfish".
June 16, 1979, Ajax, ON
"C" class
1)Ambassadors, Aurora/Newmarket, ON 37.8
Welland Ontario
June 23, 1979, Welland, ON: "Rose Festival"
"C" class
1)Ambassadors, Aurora/Newmarket, ON 49.8
2) Bluewater Buccaneers, Sarnia, ON 40.2
3) Golden Lions, Simcoe, ON 23.2
4) Oshawa Rebels, Oshawa, ON 23.1
June 24, 1979, Oshawa, ON
1) Ambassadors, Aurora/Newmarket, ON 55.7
also present
Kiwanis Kavaliers, Kitchener, ON
1) Ambassadors, Aurora/Newmarket, ON 55.5
2) Georgian Lancers, Owen Sound, ON 28.5
3) Oshawa Rebels, Oshawa, ON 27.6
4) Golden Lions, Simcoe, ON 20.9
Underneath photo: Residents of Orchard Heights apartments enjoyed a panoramic view of Impact'79 competition in Machell Park on Sunday. The local Ambassadors won the battle of the bands.
Article from the The Banner(Aurora), July, 1979:
Ambassadors take Impact '79
The Aurora-Newmarket Ambassadors edged out four other teams to take first place in the Impact '79 marching band competition in Aurora Sunday afternoon.
The Ambassadors finished first in the Cadet class with a 59.0 score, followed by the Durham Girls in second place with 47.4 and the Georgian Lancers from Owen Sound with 34.2 points
The Oshawa Rebels finished fourth with with 28.4 and the Scarborough Cardinal Cadets with 26.1 points.
In the Bantam competition, the Canadian Knights from Peterborough beat out the London Imperials, 75.2 to 70.2
Two Oshawa Rebels fainted during the competition and were treated at York County Hospital. According to a spokesman for the team, the members had a busy schedule that day with early morning practice, the parade march up Aurora's Yonge Street, a quick lunch and then Impact. The corps had been in Chippewa the day before.
According to Rotary Club (shouldn't this be _Lions_ Club? - Sam) spokesman Bill Wiles, 504 people paid the $2 admission into Machell Park for the two-hour competition.
Although Ambassadors Director Paul Ranson wouldn't speculate on wether Impact will be back in Aurora next year, he said he was pleased with the warmth of the crowd in applauding all corps, regardless of ability.
Mr. Ranson added that he wasn't surprised the rain held off during the competition.
"It never rains on us," he said.
"It has rained on other corps before us and the corps after us, but never on us in six years."The Ambassadors also won Best Drum Line and Color Guard honors while the Durham Girls captured the Best Drum Major and the Best Horn Line awards.
July 1, Aurora, ON, Machell Park: "Impact '79"
"C" class
1) Ambassadors, Aurora/Newmarket, ON, 59.0
2) Durham Girls, Durham, ON, 47.4
3) Georgian Lancers, Owen Sound, ON 32.2
4) Oshawa Rebels, Oshawa, ON 28.4
5) Cardinal Cadets, Scarborough, ON 26.1
high percussion, high guard: Ambassadors; high brass, best drum major: Durham Girls
underneath photo: They made an Impact. Drum major Leanne Bassett accepts the first-place trophy after the Aurora-Newmarket Ambassadors won the Cadet class during Sunday's "Impact '79" competition in Machell Park. Making presentation is Bob Middleton, president of the Newmarket Lions Club, which sponsors the drum corps. Competition was part of Aurora's July First Celebration.
