Back in the day the Portland area corps played host to many corps "from away". As was tradition at the time corps would parade down the main drag of the town - either Congress Street or Park Avenue by Deering Oaks - and finish at Fitzpatrick Stadium for an afternoon of head-to-head competition.

For a very small fee one could enjoy state-of-the-art marching music.

Of course, many of these groups have been gone for decades. The forces of society and economics have made radical changes to the conditions needed for such groups to happen.

Still there is now an active alumni movement abroad. Folks who remember the fun of such performances are dusting off their horns, loosening their feet up (and their belts) and hitting the streets to play for a new generation of crowds.

The Hyde Park Crusaders have stayed around to become the DCI finalist corps known as the Boston Crusaders.

At least folks up here can still say "we knew them when".