Guards take home silvers
SPENCER -- At the Owen Valley Invitational Color Guard contest Saturday, three Putnam County teams received a silver rating.
North Putnam's Region A team ranked fourth in their division, while Cloverdale's team ranked fifth in the same division. North Putnam's Cadet team was also given a silver rating, but the Cadet class isn't ranked.
Cloverdale's director Sarah Allison said that her squad's performance was their best yet.
"It really was better than any run through we've had," she said.
Cloverdale performed to "One Day" by Matisyahu.
"It's a prayer for peace and an end to violence," Allison said.
Cloverdale's performance matched their song, beginning with the sounds of a battlefield while performers laid like corpses on a tarp with an image of the globe on it. A background that looked like the broken husks of buildings added to the war-torn imagery.
As the color guard moved through their performance, which included swords and rifles along with flags, it ended with a literal peace on Earth, as cloth drawn over the globe image formed a peace sign. The performers were all clad in white outfits that looked somewhat like kimonos.
"It's kind of a global theme," Allison said.
Allison said she was very proud of her students, especially considering they have three new members with no previous experience.
Cloverdale had 11 performers after one called in sick to the event.
North Putnam's Region A coach coach Danielle Wess saw some room for improvement in her squad.
"I think they had some butterflies. They've done better in practice," Wess said. "We've got a lot to improve and now I understand how to improve it. Hopefully we only get better from here and improve as the season goes."
Wess said that their band director John Pinson helped her select the music that North Putnam performed to, which was "Ride" by Bond. She liked how upbeat it sounded.
"I wanted to pick something simple for North Putnam," Wess said. "It's a younger guard, so we wanted something simple, nothing too complex and something upbeat."
North Putnam's performance wasn't as theatrical as Cloverdale's, focusing more on a technical performance that incorporated a number of flipped flags and guns. North Putnam had seven performers, all wearing black.
North Putnam's cadet team performed to "What Dreams are Made of," and made use of different colored flags.