Oakland Crusaders

The Oakland Crusaders, also known as "The Oaklands" was a Canadian junior Drum & Bugle Corps from Etobicoke, Ontario founded in 1975 as a merger of the De La Salle Oaklands of Toronto, Ontario (formed 1910) and the Etobicoke Crusaders of Etobicoke, Ontario (formed 1969). The Oaklands were known in Canadian Nationals as "always the bridesmaid, never the bride," due mainly to the success of the The Optimists (2) of Toronto and their string of 11 straight Canadian National Championships. De La Salle finally broke this chain in 1969 and became the elite Canadian corps after that. They crossed the border into the United States with a bang in 1971. The corps made Finals at the World Open and beat Chicago Cavaliers at "Drums on Parade" in Madison. In 1974 De La Salle became the first Canadian corps to make Drum Corps International (DCI) Finals, finishing seventh. In the off season De La Salle ceased operations and the members and instructional staff "merged" with the Etobicoke Crusaders to become the Oakland Crusaders. This new corps made DCI Finals in 1975, placing sixth, still the highest placement of a Canadian corps, and again in 1976. By the corps' last top-25 finish, in 1979, about 55 percent of the corps' membership were from the United States. In 1976, the city of Toronto became the only city ever to produce two DCI finalists in the same year, the other being the Seneca Optimists. The corps had the distinction of appearing in the movie "Amerika" in 1983. After the 1985 season, the Oakland Crusaders merged with the Ambassadors of Newmarket and Aurora, Ontario, to form "Out of the Blue" (though still announced and recorded as the Oakland Crusaders). That corps was active through at least 1995, a year in which they finished sixth in DCI Division II Prelims.