The mission of Winter Sky Independent, Inc. is to promote the artistic advancement, education, and welfare of individuals in the community, both youths and adults.
Winter Sky was established in 1992 by staff and members of the New York Skyliners, Harrison Bushwackers, and Long Island Sunrisers drum and bugle corps. We were based in Garfield, NJ at the then home of the Skyliners, American Legion Post 255. The group was officially sponsored by the Skyliners and competed in the TIA (then known as NJA) circuit from 1992 to 1995 and was a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network (MAIN) in 1996.
From its inception in 1965 until the late 1990’s/early 2000’s, these drum corps competed in Drum Corps Associates (DCA) which was informally known as ‘senior corps’, meaning the members were generally over the age of 18, as opposed to Drum Corps International (DCI) which has an upper age limit. After the early 2000’s, DCA began marketing as ‘all-age’ because of the growing number of youth performers in the circuit. Because our membership was comprised of adults of the time, we competed in the senior division in both TIA and MAIN. We were the senior division champions every season that we competed until the guard went inactive after the 1996 season, corresponding with a sharp decline in membership in the Skyliners organization leading to the drum corps going inactive for a season in 1998.
There have been many discussions throughout the years of bringing the guard back under the Skyliners competition corps but none of the plans ever came to fruition due to the frequent changes in color guard staff. In 2023, the Skyliners moved their operations upstate to the Binghamton area of New York, utilizing local talent for their instructional staff.
In late 2024, it became clear that there was a shift happening in the Upstate NY colorguard circuits and more performers were looking for independent groups to join. Alumni and staff of the Skyliners saw the opportunity as a perfect time to resurrect the long dormant winter program. Charter meetings were held in December 2024 and the decision to restart the guard as its own unique entity was made. Corporation filings were done and the program was officially recognized as a corporation and 501c3 tax-exempt charity in February 2025.
Today the guard operates as an Independent A Class group and will be competing in both the Mid-York Colorguard Circuit (MYCGC) and Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network (MAIN) in 2026.