Read about the colorful history of the Sky Ryders by choosing one of the following decade tabs.

1950s

1950s – The Early Years

Sky Ryders Drum & Bugle Corps - Hutchinson, Kansas

The organization was first established in 1952 as a junior corps, originally called the Lysle Rishel Post 68 Drum & Bugle Corps and led by director Ken Fairbrother, a former member of the Hawthorne Caballeros. In 1955, under the direction of H.D. “Prof” McCosh, the corps was reorganized and adopted the name Sky Ryders. They won their first American Legion Kansas state Championship in 1959. Their original show repertoire was based on the sky: Blue Skies, Over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz), U.S. Air Force Song (Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder), and Ghost Riders in the Sky. In 1957, they won several Kansas state competitions and in 1959, they started competing in American Legion national competitions.

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

The majority of the information on this page was summarized from “A History of Drum & Bugle Corps, Vol. 2,” edited by Steve Vickers, published by Drum Corps World in 2003. Additional details in the 1980s section were inspired by articles written by Michael Boo and published on DCI.org.