by Greg Jewell

Great Bend, KS, is a community of 20,000hard-working, plain-spoken, friendly people.The local economy for many yearswas dominated by the surroundingoil fields, pumping up the blackgold in the middle of wavingstocks of wheat.

The wind blows constantly andit seems like the weather is eitherextremely cold or extremely hot.Great Bend is not a small suburbof a big city. In this area, it is thecity!

The resources of this smalltown were limited to say the least,but the pride and the vigor of thepeople was not. The best feature of

the community is the people. Most wouldoffer the shirt off their back and they tend tolook out for each other, support and honorthose who achieve something special and helpthose who have yet to achieve somethingspecial.

Formed as a parade corps in the 1948, theArgonne Rebels Drum and Bugle Corps begancompetition in 1955. As a member of theGreat Plains Association, the corps had theluxury of being able to compete within thestate of Kansas most of the season, cuttingcosts of travel and generating local interest.

The corps was always aggressive inseeking national competition. In the 1950s,Argonne traveled to distant contests fromcoast to coast, including American LegionNationals in 1955 (Miami, 12th), 1956 (LosAngeles, 3rd), 1957(Atlantic City, NJ, 20th)and 1958 (Chicago, 20th).

After three years when their rivals, the SkyRyders, represented the state at AmericanLegion Nationals, in 1963, the 60-membercorps upset the Hutchinson corps and againwon the right to represent the state at the

American LegionNationals in Miamiwhere theysurprised everyoneand placed eighth.That might havebeen the unofficialbeginning of theirclimb to nationalstature in drumcorps competition.

If there was asingle year thatmarked a majorchange in thedirection of thecorps, however, itwas 1969. Somechanges were forcedand some were designed to spring the corps

forward. The 1968season, which sawthe corps claim afinalist spot at theVFW NationalChampionships inDetroit, also saw anumber ofveterans age out.

Argonne wasnow a nationalplayer, but wouldbe forced torecruit many newmembers. Besidesbringing in newkids, severalveterans of theall-male colorguard were trainedin the winter toplay horns. Bugleinstructor SandraOpie would meetwith the membersbefore school,

after school and on weekends to teach themfundamentals and turn them in tocontributors to what would become alegendary horn line for years to come.

This was a remarkable process,considering the success of the line, but itwas necessary considering the small talentpool offered in Great Bend.

The percussion section was thrown intoturmoil when the arranger/instructor LarryMcCormick of Chicago suddenlyleft the corps just prior to thestart of the season. Lead snareFred Zutervan literally had to takeover the section.

The corps was introducing anew and challenging repertoirethat included the very difficultBarnum & Bailey’s FavoriteMarch. During this period ofdrum corps, it was common tokeep the same show for two orthree seasons with minortweaking here and there.

As the first shows of the Great

Plains Association were approaching, thecorps was working hard, but everyone knew itwould be difficult until all the pieces cametogether.

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The Argonne Rebels, 1953 (photo from the collection of Drum Corps World).

(Above) The Argonne Rebels, 1971 (photo by Art Luebke from thecollection of Drum Corps World); (below) the Argonne Rebels,1957 (photo from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Argonne Rebels, 1957, at Disneyland during a trip toLos Angeles for the American Legion Nationals (photo fromthe collection of Drum Corps World).

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The drillinstructors put thefinal counts on thedrill the afternoonof the first show inDerby, KS.Predictably, thefirst performancewas shaky.

Argonne’s in-state rival, the SkyRyders, wasfielding perhapsthe finest corps intheir long historyto that point. Theywon the show and all others in the state,concluding with the Kansas American LegionState Championship. For the defending

champion Argonne Rebels, it washumiliating. But Glenn Opie and his staffkept the members working hard and the

members knewthey were going toget better and theshow hadtremendouspotential. Thatwas anunderstatement!

After awhirlwindfund-raising driveto send the corps

on its national tour, the members loadedchartered buses and headed east towardPhiladelphia and the VFW Nationals. Prior tothat show was the U.S. Open in Marion, OH,and perhaps one of the most significantevents in Argonne’s history.

The finals performance was magical.Everything clicked for the first time; theexecution of this exciting show was there.The crowd responded with standing ovations.The judges responded with great scores andeven the perfectionist Sandra Opie was seensmiling on the front sideline. It wasArgonne’s time to shine on the national stageand all the frustration was wiped away by the

end of the performance. The corps earned a

stunning second-placeto the eventualchampion Kilties. Theymoved on toPhiladelphia andclaimed a finalist spot,but more importantly,the corps matured, metall the challenges andwould go on to be apowerhouse group forthe next several years.

The early 1970sbrought the ArgonneRebels unprecedentedsuccess. Among theaccomplishments wereAmerican LegionNational Championshipsin 1971, 1972 and 1973,and top-six finishes atthe VFW Nationals in1971 and 1972.

As a charter memberof the newly-formedDrum CorpsInternational, Argonneclaimed top-12 status in1972 and 1973. All ofthese competitiveaccomplishments wereachieved by fielding anincredible horn line.Some have called it thebest ever in the activity.

Led by instructorSandra Opie, she, alongwith Brian Pennington,(Inset) The Argonne Rebels, 1968, VFW Nationals, Detroit, MI (photo by Moe Knox); (above) 1967 (photo Clay Ward, photos from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Argonne Rebels, 1965, in front of Great Bend High School (photo by Clay Ward from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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worked countless hours in the off season toteach mainly local kids great fundamentalsand a true appreciation for great music.

The charts were arranged by some of thenation’s best, including Truman Crawford andlater Doug Denison. They were some of themost difficult to be played by a drum corpsduring this period.

The 1971 championship show includedBarnum & Bailey’s Favorite, selections from“Jesus Christ Superstar,” Stars and StripesForever and Shenendoah. The corps wasahead of its time with the “Superstar” medley.To this time, the usual drum corps show

consisted of several short tunes without anyparticular theme.

In 1971, Argonne’s horn line achievedperfection by receiving a 5.0 score for contentanalysis, an honor shared by only one othercorps in history, the Madison Scouts.

The Great Bend corps had less successwith the other sections. For most of thehistory, it featured an all-male color guard.In 1975, girls were introduced into the line.Also at this time, drum corps was changing toa less military style.

In 1976, the traditional cadet jacket waschanged and the shakos were traded in for a

white Aussie hat. Some of themanagement staff looked backon the uniform decision withregret, but it was thought atthe time that the new stylewould give the organization amore creative freedom in thechanging era of drum corps.

Mitch Markovich was thedominate figure with Argonne’spercussion in the latter years ofthe corps. He and his wife,Carla, started teaching many ofthe future members while theywere in grade school.

Considering the limitedtalent pool in the smallcommunity, this was animportant factor in fielding acompetitive unit. Whileworking with the corps,Markovich reintroduced thematched grip style, aninnovation that wasadopted by a number of othercorps.

At the conclusion of the1973 season, the Opies,

announced they would retire. Glenn, itseemed, had always been with the corps, andSandra joined the staff in 1960. No one couldargue that they didn’t deserve to step asideand spend time with their two young boys,Harlan and Robin, who had grown up on thebuses and on the practice field sidelines.

But the organization was in shock and, asthe torch was passed, the transition wasdifficult. It didn’t help that the board ofdirectors hired a local school teacher to takeover who had absolutely no corps experience.The 1974 corps came out much smaller andthe tour was a challenge.

In 1975, a staff of alumniwas hired and the corps startedto make progress back torespectability. Argonneregained its state AmericanLegion Championship over theSky Ryders and, in 1976, fieldeda full corps again. But theglory days had certainly cometo an end. The Sky Ryders werestarting to claim their mark onthe national scene and, in fact,several Argonne members wentto march with the Hutchinsoncorps only 45 miles away.

Gene Specht served as corpsdirector from 1975 to 1978 andGreg Jewell served as a tourdirector during this period.

In 1978, an alumnus namedJerry Becker took the reigns.Realizing it was necessary torestructure the corps on asmaller scale, more focus wasgiven to competitive colorguard and smaller tours.

It is always the competitiveachievements that getdocumented and celebrated, but

The Argonne Rebels, 1972, at the DCI Championships in Whitewater, WI (photo by Jane Boulen from the collection of Drum Corps World).

The Argonne Rebels, 1973 (photo by Jane Boulen from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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The drum corps life of GregJewell started when a buddytalked him into joining the colorguard of the Argonne Rebels.Previous to that, he had not evenseen a drum corps, nor had he

been a member of aband. That was in1968.

Since then, hehas remained in theactivity in some wayor the another.

After marching for three seasonsin Argonne, he joined the U.S.Navy and served four years,including a tour of duty inVietnam. When he was in theUnited States, he spent time inLong Beach, CA, where he

volunteered and made road trips with theAnaheim Kingsmen and the LynwoodDiplomats.

After discharge from the Navy in 1974, heenrolled at the University of Kansas, but theboard of directors of the Argonne Rebelsasked him to serve as the interim director.He put together a staff as well as representedthe corps at DCI meetings. He stayed on asassistant director after hiring Gene Specht tobe executive director, resigning after the1977 season to move to Seattle, WA.

While living in Seattle, Jewell joined thestaff of the Seattle Imperials as the assistantdirector and he served the corps for twoyears.

Today, he lives in Mission, KS, and hasbeen on the sales force of the DynamicFastener Service for more than 20 years. Heis single and has interest in college athleticsand travel. He has been a member of theDrum Corps World staff since 1971.

His brother Mike was a member of thesnare line of the Argonne Rebels from 1971to 1976.

Hall on Main Street that supports localdance troupes, most who had been a part ofsomething very special have moved on.

Glenn Opie dominated the history of thecorps. He still runs his law firm in town andis still donating his time to the community,having served on the city council and localschool board. In 2003, this pioneer of DCIwas inducted into their Hall of Fame.

Sandra Opie, as humble as ever, has beena member of the DCI Hall of Fame since1995. She served several years as a DCI

judge, but has never taughtanother horn line since leavingArgonne in 1973. She is now aninterior decorator.

The Argonne Rebels, like manyother drum corps, touched a lot oflives in many ways. Those, whowere fortunate to participate andwear the uniform are stillbenefiting from the experiencewhether they realize it or not.“Qui Vincet Debet Pugnare” -- “HeWho Would Conquer Must Fight.”

that they had done their part. Local cardealers donated vehicles to be used by thecorps in various ways.

In 1983, Argonne boarded buses one moretime and traveled to Miami for the DCIChampionships. That, it turns out, was thelast appearance of the corps on the field ofcompetition. The little town of Great Bendcould no longer fund a nationally competitivecorps, but no one could ever say that theyhadn’t done their part.

Although, there is still an Argonne Bingo

there is not a corps that could travel one milewithout the background support of a lot ofdedicated people.

It would be impossible to mention allthose that should be recognized in thesuccess of the Argonne Rebels, but theunique fund-raising challenges this corpsfaced should be shared.

One thing that hasn’t changed a bit is thatdrum corps is an expensive venture. Thevalue of a dollar is different today than say in1957, but that dollar was just as difficult to

come by as it is today. Having saidthat, however, there are a lot ofdifferences.

In such a small community, theresources are very limited. But amajority of the community pitchedin, if not with money, with hours ofdonated time. People who didn’teven have kids in the corpsvolunteered their help. On morethan one occasion, when the corpswas still short of their fund-raisinggoal, the local phone book was tornup and pages were given to eachbooster. Their assignment was tocall the names on their page and askfor a donation to send the kids tothe national championship contest.

Local businesses took pride indisplaying a sticker on their frontdoor with the corps’ logo to show

(Above) The Argonne Rebels, 1972, at the DCIChampionships in Whitewater, WI (photo byJane Boulen from the collection of Drum CorpsWorld); (right) the Argonne Rebels, 1981 (photofrom the collection of Drum Corps World).

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