| The 1961 season was one of newness:
lots of new members from the Bantam corps; a lot of new
music, including Cockeyed Optimist, Mr. Jones,
Presentation March, Holiday for Lovers and Manhattan
Beach; a new drum major, Al Morrison; a new drill
writer, Doug McPhail; a new drill instructor, Ivor
Bramley; and a new director of public relations, Don
Daber.
Daber was a commercial artist who was
simply attempting to write an article on Toronto’s drum
corps scene for a local newspaper. Baggs, however, had
something else in mind. He asked Daber what he would do
to promote the Optimists in particular.
Daber answered the question with a
dizzying array of material, including crests, buttons,
records, Optimist money, pennants and a selection of
corps action photos for use in media and for sale to
loyal fans. He also produced a corps newsletter that was
to gain legendary status throughout the North American
drum corps movement.
“Green Capsule Comments” was written,
produced and distributed by anyone in the corps who
cared to contribute. It became one of the most
oft-quoted and reproduced newsletters in the activity.
It was a lively, funny, argumentative collection of
inside information, gossip, contest results, corps
activity, cartoons and contest reviews.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, one
would have been hard-pressed to find a drum corps that
had more public exposure than the Optimists.
There was something else new in 1961 -
losing. For the first time since 1958, the Optimists
lost a contest to a Canadian corps. De La Salle, another
Toronto corps that would be the Optimists’ most
ferocious rival for the next 15 years, achieved the
feat.
At the Canadian National Championships
in 1961, the Optimists fought their way back to the top
and won their fourth consecutive title by a
heart-stopping ".05"!
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