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Thunderbird History by Jack Avery
Thunderbirds – Cascade Cadets History
Cascade Thunderbird Drum Majors
Dear 1960’s and 70’s TB and CDC Alumni –
Cascades history is like the transitive property: If A = B and B = C, then A = C. It doesn’t matter what variables you plug-in, the results are the same.
If the Thunderbirds are related to the Thunderbird Cadets, and the Thunderbird Cadets are related to the Cascade Cadets, then the Thunderbirds are related to the Cascade Cadets. Everybody is related. We all have the same daddy(s). The histories are different. The accomplishments are different. The organizations are different. But that doesn’t mean we’re not all related. You might want to disown your relatives, but in the end, like it or not, they’re still your relatives.
PNWDC.com
1958 Greenwood Boys Club Drum & Bugle Corps
Jack Avery Founder/Director, middle row, right end.
The Thunderbirds existed at the Greenwood Boys Club from their inception in February 1958 thru early 1960, when they moved to Wilson Jr High in Seattle. Wilson was also the birthplace of the Thunderbird Cadets in 1963 and the Cascade Cadets (Seattle Cascades) in June of 1966.
The Thunderbirds 1960 and 1961 sponsors were the American Legion Post #11 of Seattle, AKA: University Post #11, home of the Seattle Hurricanes Sr D&BC, winner of nine Washington State American Legion Sr drum corps titles.
1960 Mid-Winter Competition.
Thunderbirds – back rows with hats. Columbians – front row, no hats.
[For a detailed photo analysis, please see “Seattle Mid-Winter NW Competition” under “Highlighted Events”]
1960 at Sand Point Naval Air Station
Founder/Director Jack Avery at left
September 9, 1960
Washington State American Legion Championships Parade in Port Angeles
Garth Stubbs front and center.
Photo donated by George Baldridge AL Post #43, Sedro-Woolley Washington via
John Grout, Post Historian to whom we applaud his dedication to the preservation of Post #43 history.
PNWDC.com
March 12, 1961 at practice, Sand Point N.A.S.
August 11, 1961
Washington State American Legion Championships Parade in Wenatchee
Photo donated by George Baldridge AL Post #43, Sedro-Woolley Washington via
John Grout, Post Historian to whom we applaud his dedication to the preservation of Post #43 history.
PNWDC.com
September 1961 – Location unknown
Photo donated by George Baldridge AL Post #43, Sedro-Woolley Washington via
John Grout, Post Historian to whom we applaud his dedication to the preservation of Post #43 history.
PNWDC.com
ca 1960 – 1962
1962
1962
New uniforms in 1963.
Green shako with white brim – Color Guard
Green shako with black brim – everybody else
Red shako with white brim – Seattle Cascades color guard (1966 thru the 1990s)
Battle Jacket!!
Old photos don’t do the Thunderbird uniforms justice.
1963 (New uniforms)
1963 VFW Nationals, Seattle WA. Inspection.
1963 Thunderbirds Drum Quartet
1964 Cleveland OH – VFW Nationals
1964
1967 Salem Optirama
1967
1967 American Legion Convention Parade in Bellingham, WA
1967 Drumline with Double Bass
We’re not drum historians, but the early double bass drums shown above have both heads on each drum. Some corps just cut a single bass drum in half and marched them with heads only on the top side. The bottoms were open. More like today’s tri-toms or quads. Matter of fact, they may be the precursors to the next evolution in drums; the tri-toms. Such is the evolution of drum corps equipment.
[I know EXACTLY how they were invented; One night a bunch of drummers were hanging out in someone’s basement drinking beer and listening to drum corps cassettes and someone shouted, “Hey! Let’s cut a bass drum in half!! Cool…”]
1967 – Somewhere in Canada
1967 – Disneyland Parade
1968 Thunderbirds milling about. The two guys in orange are Sentinels (Bellevue, WA).
1968 – Looks like a local Parade
1968 Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) parade in Vancouver Canada
In 1968 the Thunderbirds were on the decline with lower membership numbers. Their last known show we could find was July 27, 1968.
The PNE parade was August 17th. The Cascade Cadets joined them in this parade to increase both corps numbers.
The Thunderbirds did not field a corps in 1969, but came back for their last year in 1970.
1968 PNE parade in Vancouver Canada. Thunderbirds in green skirts and red sashes.
Cascade Cadets in red skirts and blue cummerbunds. (Same as article above)
1968 PNE parade. Thunderbirds have cream tops with green collars & red sashes (second row, this end).
Cascade Cadets have white blouses with red dickies and no sashes (front row, this end).
[You know you’re in The Great White North when you see Export “A” cigarette ads]
1968
The Thunderbirds did not field a corps in 1969.
They went through a re-organization that relocated the entire corps 16-miles north of Seattle to Lynnwood, WA
1970
1970 Optirama Program
