St. Kevin's Emerald Knights

St. Kevin's Emerald Knights was a junior Drum & Bugle Corps from Dorchester, MA, United States, founded 1928. They were sponsored by the Boston Police VFW Post, Cambridge Marsh American Legion Post, and St. Kevin Parish Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). At that time the parish was almost entirely Irish, so the corps name was a natural. The Emerald Knights remained a parade and marching competitor for several years after its formation, entering field competition only in 1956. Corps director Ed Rooney, in addition to his musical talents, was an excellent politician and public relations expert. He was aided by brass instructor Frank Bergdoll, with Cliff Fisher on percussion and visuals. The shows that this staff turned out were technically advanced for the era while being spectacular and crowd pleasing. The corps’ colors were red, white, and green. Their special mascot was Emmett, a skeleton dressed in his own corps uniform. St. Kevin's had two feeder corps in the 1950s and 1960s, the Emerald Chips and the Emerald Gems. Awards included being four-time winners of the National Dream Contest Championship, Massachusetts VFW and American Legion Championships, CYO Championship, the Johnny Appleseed Title, and the New England States Championship. Famed comedian Jimmy Durante was once an honorary member of the corps. By the late 1960s St Kevin's Parish and the surrounding neighborhood were undergoing social change. Corps membership declined, and by then Ed Rooney had retired. The Emerald Knights attempted a merger with another once-powerful Boston-area corps, the St. Mary's Majestic Knights from Charlestown. That effort proved unsuccessful, and 1972 was the corps’ final competitive season. The corps re-formed in 2004 as a senior parade and exhibition corps.