Sacramento Freelancers - History

History

The corps was founded in 1932 as a senior drum and bugle corps and sponsored by the George W. Manhart American Legion post #391.

In 1963, Parker Silva took over the leadership of the existing American Legion Post #391 and formed the Manhart Capitalaires, an all-girl Junior Drum and Bugle Corps. The corps performed locally and regionally throughout Northern California as an all girl parade Corps. In 1970, membership was opened to males and the "Manhart" was dropped from the name. This was to be the seed for the corps to tour nationally for the first time in 1975, where they placed 18th at the Drum Corps International (DCI) World Championships.

In 1976, the corps again set out on national tour with determination. However, money was still in short supply. In fact, part of the members' motivation to do well in the show was the fact that if they did not place well, they would not collect any prize money, and the corps would not eat or go on to the next show. On the day of Prelim's, the corps woke up early to an empty kitchen and wallet. That turned out to be a sign of the strength and heart of the Capital Freelancers as that night the corps managed an incredible finish of 11th place. Through pride the Freelancers secured, for the first time, a place in DCI's elite Top 12.

In 1977 the corps landed a spot in Finals and earned a tie for 8th place with a placing of 3rd in percussion. An 11 man snare line being one of the corps high points for the year. In 1979 the BINGO Hall was established as a more stable and consistent source of funding for the corps that was growing in stature and financial need.

Another milestone occurred in 1979 as the name of the corps was changed to Sacramento Freelancers and the group began to bus members from southern California to rehearse with the members from Northern California. The Freelancers became a mainstay in DCI Finals competition in the early to mid 80's, finishing as high as 8th.

In 1986 the organization would not field a corps. Due to financial struggles, the members of the Board of Directors decided to make the corps inactive in the hopes of establishing a stronger future.

In 1987, the corps met in Late November for the first time since folding. The year started out very slowly for the corps, with many holes in all sections, but especially the hornline. The corps did not have enough members to make learning drill viable until the Memorial Day camp. Even then, there were still over 30 holes in the hornline when the corps performed in their first DCI show of the summer. As the tour went on, holes were filled by members picked up along the way and in the end, at the 1987 DCI World Championships in Madison, WI, the corps finished a very respectable 19th place. As a note, this corps had 115 members, of which, less than a dozen, were veterans.

1988, brought the corps back to prominence with a solid 15th-place finish in Kansas City with the first of a two year journey back to Finals. The show that year was a stylistic change for the corps that had previously been known for playing jazz and contemporary pop music, featuring the music of John Williams and selections from ET, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi. The corps was bigger than 1987, with a full 128 members, but significantly more mature. Unlike 1987, a large proportion of this corps were actually veterans.

1989... SAC IS BACK!! 1989 saw a continuation of the success of 1988 with almost a full corps returning. Again, the movie music of John Williams was featured, this time selections included Adventures on Earth from ET, Cadillac of The Skies and Jims New Life from Empire of The Sun, It's A Trap from Return of The Jedi and a reprise of ET. Throughout the season, the corps traded places with corps like the Sky Ryders, Spirit of Atlanta and Suncoast Sound. At the DCI East Championships in Allentown, PA, the corps beat their rival Velvet Knights Drum and Bugle Corps of Anaheim, CA for the first time. They did not lose to them again that year. When the dust settled, the corps placed 10th at Finals in Kansas City, becoming the first corps in DCI history to go inactive and return to Finals. Sac was truly back.

1990 saw the corps drop out of Finals at Buffalo with the music of Danny Elfman and a primarily Batman based show. Throughout the season, there were many re-writes and an entire song was dropped from the show. Perhaps a tinker too far, the corps placed 14th.

1991 saw the corps transition into a fully symphonic corps with the music of Ralph Vaughn Williams. With a very mature hornline and a beautifully written percussion and visual book, the corps placed 10th at the DCI Finals in Dallas, TX at The Cotton Bowl. Significant to this season was a vivid change to the visual look of the corps, dropping black trousers and shoes in favor of white.

1992 again saw the corps in Finals, this time placing 12th with the music of Bela Bartok. This was a very young corps as the core of members that had been with the corps since the reincarnation in 1987 had aged out. This would also be the last time the Freelancers would place in the top 12.

In 1993 and 1994, the corps returned to its Jazz roots. They placed 15th and 16th respectively. The music of jazz/fusion group Matrix and of John Chase were featured in these years.

In 1995 the corps fell on hard times. With new ultra-restrictive gaming laws that gave an (many say unfair) advantage to Native American Gaming casinos, the funds generated from the Freelancers Bingo Hall dramatically dwindled. The organization was left with the difficult decision to have the corps go inactive. This was originally intended to be a temporary measure, but the drum and bugle corps was never to return to active status.

The organization did continue in the form of a very successful WGI drumline, also under the name of Sacramento Freelancers which went on to place prominently, often amongst the top half of competition for several seasons in WGI competition. 2010 was the final season for the drumline.

Later that same year, the bingo hall closed its doors for the last time. The parent organization ceased operations and the hall, the busses and other equipment and any remaining assets were sold at that time.