Our Optimist Roots

The Unstoppable Force and The Immovable Object

A History of the Toronto Optimists, written by Vern Johansson

Background: Many years ago, Steve Vickers, of Drum Corps World, was creating Volume 2 of his "History of Drum Corps" and Vern Johansson wrote an article about the Toronto Optimists. Ron Allard, of Diceman Radio, used a version of the article to produce a podcast for Dicemen Radio (Warning: I am now getting a warning message when I try to access the website for Diceman Radio).

Vern's article is available in 3 formats:

• Podcast: listen to an audio version of this history that came from Diceman Radio
• Acrobat: download the complete article in Acrobat Format
• Web Pages: as a series of 13 web pages (see links below)
  1. The Beginnings
  2. Their Hearts Belong to Daddy
  3. Are These Guys for Real?
  4. On, March On
  5. Maybe This Green Machine Has too Many Miles On It
  6. "You Better Bleed on the Finish Line"
  7. How Long Can This Machine Last?
  8. The Field Is Still Green, But the Sky Is Cloudy
  9. Happy Birthday, Canada
  10. Small, But Mighty
  11. Those Were The Days
  12. Seneca Optimists (1 + 1 = 1)
  13. Former Optimists