Hawthorne Caballeros Drum and Bugle Corps

Drum and bugle corps

The Hawthorne Caballeros, sponsored by American Legion Post #199 in Hawthorne, New Jersey, is a drum and bugle corps entering their 76th season of competition. They have won the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) World Championship 10 times, the American Legion National Title 16 times, the National Dream Contest 17 times, and the New Jersey State American Legion Title 43 times. They have completed 5 undefeated seasons, consecutively in 1984 and 1985. They have placed in the Top 3 at the DCA World Championship 36 times in 56 appearances.

On March 20, 1946, the Caballeros were officially organized by a small group of recent veterans, former members of the St. George Cadets, including Jim Costello, his brother Bob, future brother in law John McAuliffe Joe Scarber, and George Hayek. A few short weeks later, the corps made its first appearance. In August 1947, the Caballeros attended their first National American Legion Championship contest at Randall's Island Stadium in New York City, and placed eighth. In 1948, the corps attended the Nationals in Miami, finishing fifth; but a year later, they were disqualified because they had not finished in the top ten at the 1949 Nationals in Philadelphia. A month later, however, after regrouping and putting in some extra practice sessions, the Caballeros won their first Legion State Championship at Wildwood, New Jersey over the Jersey Joes of Riverside, the 1948 National Champions. The Caballeros developed into a first rate contender, to which 1951 proved to be a pivotal year. The Caballeros went on to win their first Legion National Championship. While in Miami, were offered a trip to Havana by the State Department, which was declined. The Caballeros would win the Legion National Championship in 1953, 1954, and attained a seven year winning streak from 1958 to 1964. By the discontinuing of the American Legion Championship in 1980, the Caballeros had won 15 times. After the 1958 Nationals, the Caballeros accepted another offer to tour Havana.

In the late fifties and early sixties, there was a growing consensus among drum corps in rejecting the Legion Nationals as a legitimate championship, primarily because for more years than not, the contest was held in a distant city; generally convenient for Legionnaires attending the convention, but not for drum & bugle corps based in the Northeast. Unfortunately, the drum corps championship was one small event in the overall Legion convention, and most of the top corps, including the Caballeros, often found it difficult to make the considerable expenditure in money and time to attend an event in cities such as Los Angeles, Portland, or New Orleans. The logistics and costs involved in transporting and housing a large corps over such distances was simply far greater than it was worth, often taking a year or longer to recover from financially. In addition to the financial burden on corps in general, the Legion rules were based largely on military concepts and styles. As the war years faded further and further into history and senior corps became increasingly staffed with non veterans, there was a general feeling that the Legion's rigid competition rules had become outdated and overly restrictive. Frustrations which existed mainly from these two situations gave birth in 1965 to Drum Corps Associates (DCA), a sanctioning body founded by drum corps people to be focused on, and devoted exclusively to senior drum & bugle corps competition. The Caballeros would continue to attend the Legion National Championships until the final championship in 1980, which the Caballeros won.

A member of DCA since 1966, the Caballeros have fielded a finalist corps every year since. The corps would be the first to distinguish themselves with a winning streak, winning DCA championships thrice from 1973 to 1975. In 1984 and 1985, the Caballeros completed two undefeated seasons. In 1989, during the DCA's twenty fifth anniversary celebration, fans voted the Caballeros as their all time favorite drum and bugle corps. In 2002, the corps would place outside of the top five for the first time in 34 years. The corps would place its lowest in recent years with the 2005 season. However, the corps would climb back into the top five in subsequent years, but fall back out top five for the 2018 season. In 2020, with the growing threat of COVID 19, the Caballeros would not perform a season for the first time since its founding. In 2021, the Caballeros completed an undefeated championship season. The Caballeros have won ten championships, the most recent being in 2021.

The Hawthorne Muchachos, the Caballeros' junior corps, was formed in 1959 by the renowned Caballero drum major, Ralph Silverbrand. The impetus for forming the corps was primarily to extend the great world of drum corps to younger players in Hawthorne and surrounding communities, but a secondary benefit was to create a ready pool of talent which would eventually "graduate" into the Caballeros once members reached the age of twenty two and "aged out" of the junior corps. The Muchachos wore the same basic uniform as the senior corps except for minor trim differences, and shared the instruction staff and rehearsal facilities with the Caballeros

The Muchachos were instantly successful, totally dominating the entry level circuit they initially competed in with two undefeated seasons their first two years out. From there they moved into a more challenging circuit. The Muchachos were eventually a member of DCI, the top junior circuit, and placed as high as fourth in 1974, a considerable achievement, given the incredible competition within that organization. Unfortunately, the Hawthorne Muchachos were disqualified during the 1975 season due to allowing an over aged snare drummer to participate in their program. After a placement of 21st in the 1976 season the corps folded.

The Caballeros have maintained a strong alumni association for many years. In 1994, the Association spawned another unit, the Caballeros Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps. Organized by a small but enthusiastic group of former corps members, the Alumni Corps quickly grew and continues to grow, currently numbering close to one hundred members. The corps has been in great demand from the start, but unlike the competition corps, the Alumni Corps maintains a somewhat less rigorous schedule, and is strictly an exhibition and parade corps. In addition to assisting the competition corps wherever and whenever possible, one of the purposes for launching the Alumni Corps was to return to some of the great music from the fifties, sixties and seventies; bringing back memories for older players and fans, and exposing younger fans to the music that made the Caballeros famous in earlier years.