Winter Guard’ Show at Wells High School February 23rd

Post date: Apr 05, 2013 3:8:54 PM

High school band color guard teams no longer limit their performances to football fields in the fall. In recent years there has been a trend in Maine for color guard teams to continue practicing, performing and competing during the winter months, hence the formation of winter guard teams.

This Saturday, February 23rd, the Winter Color Guard program at Wells High School will begin their season by featuring a show and competition in Wells High School’s Ronco Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Winter guard teams from Sanford and Marshwood will also be attending.

The Wells teams were created by Color Guard Coach Bailey Johnson in the winter of 2011. “Winter Guard is performance activity, in which students create a show using recorded music, dance, flags, rifles, sabers, and other visual props,” commented Johnson in an e-mail.

In describing a typical Winter Guard performance last winter, Johnson wrote that a show is “very different from what you see guards do in the fall, because guards have more freedom and are not restricted by drill on a football field and aren't working around a marching band.”

Since its inception, the Winter Guard program in Wells has been extremely popular. Currently there are 63 girls and boys from Wells Junior High School and Wells High School participating. These guards form three separate teams that compete with one another.

This year the Wells teams have created a fund raising program to raise money and awareness for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center. This program is called “GUARDians”. Audience members at various shows as well as members of the general public can donate to this cause throughout the season. Currently there are 19 area businesses that have agreed to support of the efforts of the GUARDians.

Color guard competition among Maine schools is organized and sponsored by the Maine Band Directors Association (MBDA).

Caption: In 2012, 8th grade student Adrienne Perron fronts a line of winter guard performers for a segment of their show, ‘Rated Arrrgh!’ featuring music from “The Pirates of the Caribbean”.