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Who are the New York Skyliners
1945 - 2009
64 Years of Drum & Bugle Corps
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The New York Skyliners have won every major title
available to a senior drum and bugle corps, including the DCA
Championships, and the New York State and American Legion National
Championships. The New York Skyliners were the 1963 World Open
Champions, 1971 and 1975 DCA Champions, and most recently were the
1999 and 2002 Drum Corps Associates' Class A World Champions.
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| (1975 NY Skyliners - DCA
Champions) |
(2002 NY Skyliners - DCA Class A
Champions) |
Membership meetings were first held in 1945, and the
point was to create a senior corps for members of two units that were
returning from service in World War II. Members of this corps were
drawn from two New York City American Legion junior corps: The Phoebe
Apperson Hearst Post #1197 and the Grand Street Boys from Post #1025.
The membership was accepted into the American Legion, and the new post
was chartered in 1946. The post was named after Raymond A. "Gabby"
Garbarina, a young man who played with both the Grand Street Boys and
the Hearst Post corps, who had lost his life in the war. The new post
was known as the Raymond A. Garbarina Memorial Post #1523, New York
City. The corps itself was also known as the Raymond A. Garbarina
Memorial Corps, and later, the Garbarina Skyliners. |
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The corps' first
appearance was an exhibition at a New York Giants football game at the
Polo Grounds. They began competing the following season in 1947,
winning the New York State American Legion title that year. The 1947
American Legion National Championship was held in NYC, but corps from
the host city were not allowed to compete, so Garbarina had to sit it
out. The 1948 Championship was held in Miami, and lack of funds
prevented the corps from attending. The 1949 Nationals were held in
Philadelphia, and Garbarina won their first national title. During the
period from 1949 - 1951, Garbarina Skyliners competed in 41 contests
and won 38 of them. |
| (1950 R.A.Garbarina Skyliners -
American Legion
National Champions) |
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After the 1949 season, the corps became known as the
Garbarina Skyliners, and later, the New York Skyliners. In 1951, corps
member John F. Mazarakos passed away as a result of a very long time
suffering from an illness stemming from his service in the jungles of
the South Pacific. His name was added to the post charter, becoming
the Garbarina-Mazarakos American Legion Post 1523, and it still
survives to this day. For more information
about the history of the New York Skyliners, please visit our online
store and purchase a 60th Anniversary yearbook. |
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