Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps

History

The organization was first established as a junior corps in 1952 called the Lysle Rishel Post 68 Drum & Bugle Corps and led by director Ken Fairbrother, a former member of the Hawthorne Caballeros. In 1955, under the direction of H.D. "Prof" McCosh, the corps was reorganized and adopted the name Sky Ryders. In 1957, they began winning competitions in Kansas, and in 1959 they started competing in American Legion national competitions. They won their first American Legion Kansas state Championship in 1959, repeated in 1960-62, and won another in 1964. In 1959, the corps also attended its first American Legion National championship, placing tenth of 24 junior corps. This was followed by American Legion Nationals finishes of 6th, 5th, and 4th the following three seasons and 3rd in 1964.

The corps experienced financial and membership issues in 1966, taking the season off after nearly disbanding. When it returned in 1967, it was largely with members of their feeder corps, the Jets, and with girls allowed into the brass and percussion sections rather than being restricted to the color guard.

In 1969, brass instructor John Simpson recruited Larry Kerchner to collaborate on the corps' music. The corps had a successful year, again winning the Kansas American Legion title and placing 7th at the American Legion Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1967 through 1971, the corps mostly confined its travel to Kansas and the surrounding states. At around that same time, the Sky Ryders were one of the first corps to make the switch from French horns to mellophones for mid-range voices.

In 1972, the Sky Ryders traveled to Whitewater, Wisconsin for the inaugural Drum Corps International World Championship, placing 20th of the 39 corps from across the USA and Canada. The corps would not return to the DCI Championships until competing as a Class A corps at Boulder and Denver in 1977, where they finished in 3rd place. Up until that time, the Sky Ryders had always been a hometown corps, drawing its members exclusively from the Hutchinson area, but in 1977, the corps began to recruit from a wider area. In 1978, the corps switched from Class A to Open Class and had increasing success, placing 31st in Denver that year and to 22nd and 17th in Birmingham, Alabama the next two years. During that time, corps director George Tuthill and brass instructor John Simpson attracted many members from Oklahoma and Texas, and Kerchner's unique and melodic arrangements were popular with fans and judges.

In the early 1980s, Tuthill set out to get the Sky Ryders into DCI's elite Top 12. In 1981, they placed 14th in Montreal, Quebec at the first DCI Championships held outside the United States. In 1982, Tuthill's goal was accomplished with a 10th-place finish in Montreal's Olympic Stadium. The corps' huge rainbow flag, unfolded behind the corps during their show and displayed in the stands afterwards, and their closing number of "Over the Rainbow" quickly became Sky Ryders traditions. In 1983, the Sky Ryders received particular attention performing Kerchner's Grammy-nominated jazz arrangement of "Home on the Range," and for the second year in a row, the corps placed in DCI's Top 12 with a 12th-place finish in Miami, Florida.

The corps dropped out of DCI Finals in 1984, placing 17th in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1985, the corps had a stronger year with a 15th-place finish at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, performing the first of two successive productions of "The Wizard of Oz." Starting in 1986, under the direction of alumnus Dale Antoine and a design team led by Tommy Keenum, the Sky Ryders returned to DCI's Top 12. Over the next three years, they entertained audiences with dramatized productions of the popular musicals "The Wizard of Oz," "West Side Story," and "The Sound of Music" and gained a reputation as "The Great Story Tellers." Their "Wizard of Oz" show in 1986 included elements such as a Wicked Witch riding a bicycle, gold lamé "yellow brick road" flags, and colorful guard costumes for the various characters in the film. They finished the year with the corps' highest placement of 9th in Madison.1987's "West Side Story" placed 12th as did 1988's "The Sound of Music", with both of those programs also containing costuming and actions that helped to tell the story.

After achieving popularity, the corps suddenly switched directions in 1989 with cadet-style uniforms and a more darkly themed show, including "March (from Symphonic Metamorphosis)" and selections from "Carmina Burana." The corps finished the season out of DCI Finals with a Semifinals tie for 14th place. The stylistic change and the fall from Finals were elements in the financial difficulties the corps faced in 1990. From its roots as a hometown corps, the Sky Ryders had evolved into a corps with mostly out-of-state members, with the bulk of those members coming from Texas, so, in order to survive, the corps' leadership relocated the organization to De Soto, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. After the challenges of the move to Texas, the corps finished the 1990 season in 19th place during DCI Semifinals in Buffalo, New York.

In 1991, the Sky Ryders once again regained DCI Top 12 status with a return to the corps' tradition of popular musicals, this time with Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot." The corps placed 12th in DCI Finals held in their new hometown of Dallas. The corps performed another popular Lerner and Loewe musical in 1992 with the Scottish-themed "Brigadoon," but during DCI's 20th Anniversary Championships in Madison, the corps only placed 15th in Semifinals.

In 1993, the Sky Ryders once more abandoned their successful formula for a "more contemporary show", including "Connotations" by Edward Gregson and "Symphony No. 2" by David Diamond, and the corps finished their last full season of competition with a placement of 20th in Jackson, Mississippi. Despite plans for a 1994 season, the corps' continuing financial difficulties resulted in bankruptcy and the disbanding of the corps. Although the corps had departed the scene, the efforts of the unit's director during its Texas tenure, Paul Proctor, saw that all of the corps' substantial debt was eventually paid off.

Show summary (1960–1993)

The following is a list of Sky Ryders shows from 1960 to 1993.

Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.

Sky Ryders Alumni Scholarship

In 2011, the Sky Ryders Alumni established an annual scholarship campaign which benefits members of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. The Blue Stars were selected because their organization exhibits similar qualities to the way the Sky Ryders operated—they highlight and encourage the idea of everyone in the organization as family.

Notable alumni

Former members of the Sky Ryders have gone on to make significant contributions within the Drum and Bugle Corps and Winter Guard activities. Some alumni have attained international recognition for their achievements outside the marching arts.