‘Winning was fun’: Local marching band wins national competition for high-energy show

BOSTON — We all like to think of Boston as ‘Title Town’. We’re accustomed to our teams bringing home the hardware.

Another team can be added to the list of local champions.

The Boston Crusaders are a drum and bugle corps based in Hyde Park that just won a prestigious national competition, naming them the best in the country.

The group is known for its high-energy routines, which synchronize dance and color guards to the music of a marching band.

The Crusaders are made up of 165 performers.

“The Boston Crusaders are the highest form of marching band,” explained executive director Chris Holland. “It’s like outdoor theater on a football field. Lots of acrobatics, Cirque de Soleil, props, colors, lights.”

Marching bands have come a long way since the Crusaders were founded in 1940.

“The activity started really at the grassroots, locally based, often tied to the VFW or a CYO neighborhood youth activity. It was really a way to teach discipline and to get young people doing something productive,” said Holland.

Fast forward 85 years, and today, the Crusaders are playing to crowds in large sports arenas.

Just last month, the Crusaders were crowned the nation’s best drum and bugle corps during a competition in Indianapolis.

They won the top prize from Drum Corps International, which is considered the major league of marching music.

“Winning was a lot of fun, and I would love to do it again,” said Holland.

Kaluki Kithome was part of the color guard in this year’s product, entitled “Boom”.

She said she was completely overcome when the Crusaders were announced as the winners. “I was in shock and just so happy.”

It was a long road to get to the championship.

The cast and crew filled four buses and drove as far as California this summer.

They often practiced in scorching heat.

Kithome added, “I know if I can get through a 100-degree day in Texas, doing 12 hours and having to do a 15-minute run-through of the production, that I could do almost anything in life!”

The Florida native believes this organization has really changed her life.

“I don’t think I would have been able to move up to Rhode Island and go to Brown University if wasn’t for this organization because it gave me such a strong sense of independence.”

A smaller version of the national trophy is now in the Crusaders’ Hyde Park office.

Fundraising is a year-round job for Holland, and soon it will be time for auditions for next year’s production.

But for now, there’s still time to savor a championship.

“There’s still, a real pinch me feeling. We really did win,” said Holland.

The annual budget for the Crusaders is about three million dollars. They’re very dependent, and appreciative, of their sponsors.

The performers are not paid.

They’re mostly college students who pay for the experience to improve their performance skills and travel the country.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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