The Thomson High Bulldog Brigade's competition squad participated in its first marching festival of the 2007 season last Saturday night, and as in the past, the squad brought home several Superior ratings.
The squad traveled one-and-a-half hours north of Thomson to Hartwell to participate in the Fifth Annual Lake Hartwell Marching Festival on October 20. The event was held at the football stadium on the campus of Hart County High School. A total of 12 schools from North Georgia and Central Georgia participated in the one-day event.
All in all, the Bulldog Brigade captured five Superior awards and one Excellent award in different categories. For this accomplishment, the band also received an overall Superior Rating.
The Superior awards came in the areas of Drum Major, Colorguard, Majorette, Dance Team and Band. The lone Excellent award was presented to the Percussion Unit.
"I thought everyone in the band did a very good job," said Jessie Morlan, director of the THS Bulldog Brigade. "This was their best performance ever this season. ... We have been working on two different shows this season, and it has been about three weeks since this show was put on the field. Everyone gave a 100 percent effort."
The Bulldog Brigade's show was a four-song selection from Earth, Wind and Fire. The selections included "Rock That/September" which is two songs put in one medley, "Fantasy" and "In The Stone."
The performance was a lot of work for everyone involved. For example, the color guard spent the entire day getting ready.
"The girls involved in the color guard unit were together since 8:30 a.m. Saturday, working on certain aspects of the routine and working as a team," said Kaitlin Kitchings, senior captain of the color guard. "We practiced, ate breakfast together, and then got our hair done, and practiced some more."
Sophomore Danceline Co-Captain Elizabeth Land was also thrilled about the squad's performance.
"I was so nervous," she said. "We had a lot of new girls on our squad, but everyone came together for a winning performance. Out of our eight girls, only three were veterans. We worked great as a team, and are now preparing for the rest of the season."
Senior Majorette Captain Katherine Timmerman also felt very happy about her squad's performance.
"Our group performed really great last Saturday night," she said. "All of us were excited about our routine, because we had no drops. All our work on those hot afternoons really paid off."
The squad is now preparing for their next performance this weekend in Rome. The same show will be presented.
