Bob Woods, who passed away in 1993, was one of the Connecticut Hurricanes’ innovative drill designers who helped move field shows away from a strict military style to a more creative, free flowing style of drill emphasizing audience entertainment, while still requiring a high degree of precision. He worked closely with his long time drum corps partner Edward Condon and their mentor, Hall of Fame charter member Vinny Radford, to create new design patterns that have evolved into modern drum and bugle corps field show standards. He drummed in the percussion section of the Hurricanes from 1955 to 1961, and handled drill design until 1969. His designs incorporated the color guard into the drill patterns for the first time, complimenting the music and percussion to create a more crowd-pleasing presentation and enhance overall audience enjoyment. The emphasis on marching precision earned the Hurricanes the nickname Green Machine. When the corps won its first World Open title in 1964, the Hurricanes took the marching and manoeuvring (M and M) caption by two and a half points, providing the entire margin of victory. Over the following five years of competition, the Hurricanes recorded high M and M scores in 90 per cent of their contests. After his departure as drill designer, he remained active with the Hurricanes as a performance instructor, working to help clean the drills created by Hall of Fame member Carman Cluna. He served as a judge with the All American Judges Association for three years. He was also the drill designer for a number of organizations in New England from 1960 until 1977, including St. Rose’s color guard, Hot Shots of Norwalk, Connecticut and East Haven drum and bugle corps.
*Deceased
