Hamilton
International Tattoo Photos
Alumni
Association Photo Website - By Gary Zoskey
The HFFDC is a
senior
parade and concert Drum Corps with 75 men and women from 17 to 75 years
of age. The Corps was formed by members of the Hamilton Fire Department
and has been continuously active since 1961. The current membership is
made up of experienced musicians from various junior and senior drum
corps,
military and marching bands, and other musical organizations. Our
principle
objective is to provide a pleasant social atmosphere for continuing in
drum corps activities, without the pressures of an M&M field corps.
Our activities are family oriented, with several married couples
participating
and several father/son members.
The
HFFDC is actively recruiting new members, especially people that have
previous
Drum Corps or marching musical experience.
- There are no
membership
fees or dues of any kind.
- Uniforms and
instruments
and other equipment are provided.
- Transportation,
when
required for long trips, is provided.
- Rehearsals are held every Thursday
evening
at 175 Dartnall Road, starting at 7:30pm. Maps
to the hall are available on the Rentals
page.
- Visitors are welcome.
With
the help of the City of Hamilton, the Corps recently constructed a new
$1,000,000 practice facility. This 12,000 square foot building has a
Main
Hall that is rented to the public for social
occasions such as weddings, dances etc. This provides us with an
ongoing
source of revenue to help finance our activities. We also have a
members
lounge, the "Bill Mitchell Lounge", recently dedicated to the founder
of
the corps, which can be rented for smaller social affairs. All
facilities
are fully licenced by the LLBO.
Click
here for a map to the hall.
1998
Drum Line
is
a member of the"Great
Alliance of Seniors"
Instructional
Staff:
Brass Arranger &
Instructor:
Rick Dixon 
Working Guard Design
&
Instruction: Lois
Nicholls 
Working Guard:
Lois Nicholls has long and
distinguished experience with numerous senior drum corps. In 2002, Lois
was asked to put together a "Working Guard" for the HFFDC. Lois had to
start from scratch, as the HFFDC has never had anything in this
dimension
before. Lois recruited people, designed the uniforms, designed and
instructed
the drill over a six month period. The guard debuted in St. Mary's,
Ontario
on August 5, 2002.
The
Canadian GAS Ensemble
Click here to see about a new
Canadian Drum Corps endeavour 
www.CanGasEnsemble.com
Our
Other Pages:
Links
Page - Click
Here
HFFDC
Corps History - Firefighters Drum Corps history. Photos
of the Corps through the years
HFFDC
Membership Corps List- Past Corps affiliations covering 40 years of
Canadian Drum Corps
HFFDC
Alumni Association - 300 past members are actively involved in many
social activities. 
February 21/08
HFFDC
Banquet Facility Rental
- Banquet Hall rental for weddings, meetings, dances, etc.
C.A.D.R.E.
- "Canadian Association for Drumming Rudimental Excellence" Web Site
G.A.S.
-
Great Alliance of Seniors Member Corps
Canadian
G.A.S. Ensemble - Six Canadian Corps' massed efforts
To view Adobe Acrobat .PDF documents
download the free reader here.
This site has grown and has numerous pages and links.
To assist in looking for something in
particular, a search feature has been added.
Nostalgia:
The following two
web pages are dedicated to the two organizations that, over the 40
years
of the HFFDC, have been the cradle of many of the past and present
members.
These organizations are now extinct, but the memories of them live on
in
the hearts of a great many of the Hamilton Firefighters Drum Corps.
Royal
Hamilton Light Infantry Bugle Band
- 1887 - 1992
Viscounts
Senior Drum & Bugle Corps
- 1959 - 1964
A
Little More Nostalgia
The Canadian
Commanders
Senior Drum & Bugle Corps was formed as an amalgamation of the
Viscounts
and the Jesters in late 1963. Many of the HFFDC members participated in
this organization, which is now also extinct.
Canadian
Commanders Senior Drum & Bugle Corps-
1964
- 1973
New "old" photos
of the Commanders and Jesters provided by Ed Law.
For general
information
on the HFFDC e-mail the president: George Walford, gwalford@sympatico.ca
or write to
George Walford,
President
- c/o 175 Dartnall Road, Hamilton, Ontario, L8W 3V9 or call
705-329-0539
Rehearsals
are held every Thursday evening at 175 Dartnall Road, starting at
7:30pm.
Visitors are welcome.
Maps
to the rehearsal hall are available from the "HFFDC
Banquet Facility Rental" page.
In 2002 and 2003, Hamilton Firefighters
Drum Corps received financial assistance from: 
Send
your comments and suggestions to:
Peter
Mason
Last
Updated on February 21, 2008 by Peter
Mason
Images for downloading
