Since there’s no traveling in the immediate future, I thought I’d share a group I participated in as a teen in my hometown of Rush, NY – The Rush Kaydettes, a color guard marching group sponsored by the Rush Volunteer Fire Department. During the summer months, we traveled to area towns to march in their fire department’s parades. During the winter months, we traveled to competitions. The ultimate goal was to win first place and bring home a trophy and/or a cash prize.
Our uniforms were mostly hand-made by our directors. Our white boots had red tassels and taps on the bottoms to accent our marching steps. No dragging of the feet as it would be heard. I started out carrying a flag but my goal was to carry a rifle. Flags didn’t do much in the way of routines back then. It was the rifle unit that had the drills and routines to razzle-dazzle the crowds as we marched along the parade route. Our technical director was a judge. He was scary! I remember him walking behind our line and you knew when he stopped behind you. He would ‘breathe’ on you trying to get you to flinch. Military discipline! No flinching, coughing or sneezing allowed! But, we were a good group and as such won many awards.
The highlight of the night was maybe catching a ride on the back of a fire truck to the beginning of the parade and the carnival afterwards. We weren’t allowed to wear our uniforms on the carnival grounds, so it was a quick change out of the car trunk, and off we went to have fun in groups of no less than 2-4 girls. The time when awards would be handed out was our meeting time. Our directors kept a pretty good eye on this group of teenage girls, for sure!
When I first joined, we practiced in the parking lot of the Rush Town Hall. Then later on, we moved down the road a bit to the local elementary school: summers outside in the parking lot; winters inside in the gym. Weekly practices were for learning routines and precision drills. Keeping in step with each other was key. The tallest girl in the group carried the American flag. It was my honor to walk beside her, essentially protecting our flag.
One of my favorite parades to march in was for the Naples Grape Festival in Naples, NY. The parade was held at night, after dark. We had flashlights taped to our flag poles and rifles to illuminate us. One of my least favorite parts about marching was doing so behind horses. We were not allowed to dodge the poop on the road. Just nasty! I always thought the horses should be at the end of the parade! Another favorite part was when there was a drum & bugle group either in front of or behind us. (Our fire department did not have a band as some did back then.) It was nice being able to hear the music and march to the beat of the drums. And yet another not so favorite part was being directly behind a diesel-engine fire truck and breathing the fumes! All in all, however, these were some of the best times of my teens – being a part of a sisterhood who shared the same goal. It helped mold me into who I am today.
Sadly, many fire departments have stopped sponsoring their annual Firemen’s Day parades and carnivals, as one after another have held their last hurrah. Times change. Priorities change. People change. Life goes on…
You never know what may help shape your life,
until you try it.
Twenty Steps at a Time 