Patrick said this year differs because competitions were formerly held in Connecticut, with the final competition in Norwalk — 25 degrees and snowing. “Now we have the Carrier Dome, because it’s indoor. How many people can say that they have been to the Carrier Dome and been on the field and performed in front of 10,000 people?”
Spin control
Carole Avossa works with the color guard, instructing 18 kids how to twirl, or rather, “spin.” She has been doing this since 1989. “A lot of the competitive marching bands we are up against like Arlington are paid a lot of money, but we have a small staff and mostly lead by kids like the drums and flutes and sections — all the section leaders are students — most are seniors, but not all,” said Avossa. Your child will either love this or hate this — they’ll either come back or never come back again. I tell this to parents.” Avossa characterized many of the students as “misfits”. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. There is one student for example who tried soccer, volleyball, but then started to learn how to twirl flags and it was her thing. She liked the camaraderie and family atmosphere we had.” Avossa said she met husband as a drum major and flag spinner in 1984, and has since stayed involved.
Color guard Captain Meredith Bradley, 16, explained what keeps her twirling day after day. “Once I joined it, I fell it in love with it. The group of us are very different — we are in a lot of different circles of friends. Wouldn’t have met this group otherwise, people we really get along with. We look forward to color guard, and look forward to seeing each other.” Bradley said that her sister and cousin were both color guard leaders, and feels as though the path was laid out before her. “Many of the people in the color guard are best friends. “Being so close is and being in such a big band, most large bands are probably not as close we are, so we have a slight edge over everyone else. The band parents do a lot for the bands and volunteer. We also are all very unique in our different ways. We are each unique. I love the group of people, and its fun to do. The group is great how we can joke around, and it’s not competitive like other sports. … we help each other within the color guard instead of competing each other.”
Gaining renown
The band has been gaining more and more public attention, and was featured in the Kingston Uptown’s Business Alliance’s recent parade to celebrate the completion of the Pike Plan canopy.
