The corps was composed mainly of World War I veterans who were members of the William R. Witty American Legion Post 37 in St. Peter.

These corps did not exist long, but the tenacity and highly motivated leadership of Cliff Hermel is evident through their formation.

During the 1950s, drum corps around the country began adopting names that did not reflect their sponsorships, similar to what sports teams do.

Thus, the drum corps was once again renamed this time they chose the name Govenaires to honor the five governors of Minnesota who hailed from St, Peter.

Margaret Mayer, Pat's wife, became the first female member and eventually became a key player in keeping the corps running through the 1970s and 1980s.

Although the Govenaires were not crowned champions, the trip was viewed as highly successful and even though they experienced a bus breakdown in Butte, Montana that caused the already lengthy trip home longer, the corps decided to make the journey to the next season's American Legion National Championship in Denver.

During this decade, the corps was led by many different directors of operations, but the constant presence of Pat and Margaret Mayer in leadership roles is evident.

Although the judge's scores were low, the corps exhibited an ability to entertain the audiences by playing their final song "Show Me the Way to Go Home" on the track in front of the competition field while throwing candy into the crowd.

This stress on entertainment over competition still exists in the corps today and ended up being a pivotal decision made by Mayer at the time.

The late 1990s also marked the time when the Govenaires built up a convoy of three buses and an equipment truck to make transportation easier for everybody in the corps.

Having a membership base of only 38 performers, the Govenaires placed second in the Class A division and sparked a national following that was previously nonexistent.