The Chapparells Baton and Drum Corps was established in the fall of 1973, after a summer full of discussions between Pat Brodie, Carol Allrutz, and Nadine Bechtel. The first group originated mostly from members of other twirling groups of the area, ranging in ages from 12 to 21. Pat Brodie was the first director of Chapparells appointing Nadine as music instructor, Loreen Spindler as majorette instructor, while Carol and her husband Russ took on an administrative role. The first Chapparells had a color guard A-line, twirling silks, senior majorettes, and a live music section. They marched their first parade in downtown Cleveland on St. Patrick's Day on March 17, 1974 in near freezing temperatures. However, around this time, Pat Brodie fell ill. Months later close to when they would make their first annual trip to Niagara Falls, Russ made a promise at the request of Pat, who was terminally ill, that he would never let anything happen to the Chapparells.
Russ then assumed the role of director, and led the Chapparells to become the dominant marching unit of the Akron area. They then adopted the Roadrunner as their unofficial mascot, because they "ran the road". The Chapparells marched in parade all around the state, and marched frequently, sometimes participating in 4 parades in one weekend. They even traveled out of state a couple times, marching in Port Huron, Michigan, in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and Buckhannon, West Virginia. The Chapparells grew to around 75 to 100 members at one time. All the while, members carpooled to and from all their parades, which got more and more problematic with 75+ people. Around 1985 the Chapparells bought a school bus and have since been bussing their members to all of their parades. The group always travels to Niagara Falls for the St. Catherines Grape and Wine festival near the end of September, and have gone on cruises, Disney World, the Bahamas, and many amusement parks around the state. They have performed in all these places, even once performing on a cruise ship.
Russ and Carol led the corps together until 1994, when both retired to Florida. Russ searched carefully for a trustworthy person to keep the corps going strong after he left, and eventually trusted to his daughter, Susan Combs. Susan directed from then until 2004, creating a junior majorettes section for the younger members still looking to twirl baton. After 2004 her sister, Laura Taylor took over, and leads the Chapparells to this day.
