Davenport Trumpet Band (and others)

1955 Waterloo Band Festival

The 18th Troop Scout Band was formed in 1952, under the guidance of Mr. Bud Parker. In 1955 it morphed into the 157th Scout Troop then, later that year, it left scouting and became the Davenport Trumpet Band with Mr. Al Baggs as Business Manager. Mr. Baggs managed to convince the Downtown Toronto Optimists Club to sponsor this fledgling group. Later in 1955, under the auspices of the Optimists Club, it became Opti-Corps, a Junior "B" competitive corps. Late in 1957 the corps decided to compete in the Junior "A" category and the corps became The Toronto Optimists. The Toronto Optimists won the Junior "A" championship in 1958, the very first year they competed in the Junior "A" category. In fact, they won the Junior "A" championship every year from 1958 thru 1968! The audio track features the Davenport Trumpet Band. It was recorded at a 1955 performance at the Dufferin race track in Toronto..