Russ Jones

Inducted: 1993 (deceased)

Russ Jones began his life in this activity in 1948 with the Flint Skylarks Sr. Drum Corps. By 1958, he decided that there was a need to prepare kids for the Skylarks, so he started the Corvair Cadets for juniors with the help of fellow Skylarks Charlie Rice, Bob Cobb and brother Rudy Jones. As time went on, the demands of the junior corps forced him to retire from the senior group to concentrate on the demands of the younger kids. Under his guidance, the junior corps became the Guardsmen and rose to national prominence until they placed fifth in the country in Class A at the US Open in 1971 just before the era of DCI.

As the corps struggled through the 1970's, Russ' creative talents led him to patent a spinning cymbal handle, several aluminum percussion carriers and eventually the first set of quint tenor drums sets in the country in the early 1980's. As the cost of the drum corps activity pushed the Flint corps out of existence in the early 1980's, Russ diverted his attention to the winter guard arena. In 1984 he brought in Orlando Suttles to begin the legendary Studio One. Always working in the background, Russ worked with MCGC founding father John Robertson to bring Y.E.S. Club into the sponsorship of Studio One. That connection continued until Russ' death in 1995. With his death came the end of Studio One, Y.E.S. Club, and that entire genre of youth activity in the Flint area. Only in recent years has the participation in the Flint area began to grow again.