Mike Campanelli has been an important member of many drum and bugle corps in upstate New York, beginning with the Crystal Raiders parade corps in Corning in 1957, and extending through the years to include such nationally-known groups as Rochester Crusaders and Empire Statesmen. Before serving in the United States Air Force in 1964, he was the color guard captain of the Seneca Chiefs senior corps of Montour Falls. After returning to Kansas in 1968, following combat duty in Viet Nam he formed a corps in Wichita, acting as drill instructor and participating as a marching member. He was corps director of the Continental Ambassadors junior corps of Wichita from 1968 to 1971, when he returned to Rochester to march with the Crusaders color guard. He was director of the Mark Twain Cadets of Elmira, NY for two years. He has been a member of the support staff and business relations co-ordinator for the Empire Statesmen since 1985.
