Through the Years

  • This era marked the beginning of the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps.

    1970s

  • This was the decade of pushing the Corps forward. Changes in uniform and a new focus on performances.

    1980s

  • The Corps updates the truck, fifes, uniforms and more. There is more travel and the celebration of 25th Anniversary.

    1990s

  • This was an era of perfecting the performance. The Corps performs for the opening of the hit movie “The Patriot.”

    2000s
  • Description goes here
    2010s
  • Description goes here
    2020s

The Beginning

The Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps (PFDC) was formed by Mark and Carol Petty in 1971 with Donald Tripp supporting the development of the Corps as its first board president.

As the percussion instructor for the Plymouth High School Marching Band, Mark wanted to give the percussionists an opportunity to use their skills for more than two months a year outside of marching band. In November 1971, he invited interested flute and other woodwind players from the Plymouth High School Band to join with the percussionists to form the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps.

Mark originally contemplated calling the group the Plymouth Colonials but rejected this idea due to the history of Plymouth starting around 1825. Mark and his wife, Carol, wanted the Corps to have original fife tunes and so traveled to Washington DC to copy manuscripts at the Library of Congress. At that time, Mark wanted the Corps to play music from the War of 1812, modern Civil War and Revolutionary War music. He did not want to focus on music from one specific time period, because he wanted people to realize the historical value of each of these periods.

Through the Years