If you’ve been hearing drums and bugles this week throughout Mount Vernon, it isn’t your imagination.
The Colts Drums and Bugle Corps based out of Dubuque have been holding their first week of spring training exercises at Mount Vernon High School and Cornell College.
Scott Weber said he worked with director Vicki McFarland to bring the Colts to Mount Vernon as one of their stops for training this year.
“I was a member of the Colts Drums and Bugle Corps from 1989 to 1993, and I’ve been friends with Vicki since I started as a band director,” Weber said. “I’ve tried to get the Colts to come to Mount Vernon, and this was the year where everything lined up.”
That included having space for more than 200 people to sleep overnights. For those first four nights in Mount Vernon, that space was the gym floor at the Mount Vernon High School and Mount Vernon Middle School. The Colts also had access to the locker rooms for shower space for their members to use.
Weber said that having four different spaces and fields for the Colts to utilize for practicing individually, and then the Martha Parsons Family Activities Complex for their joint work to be worked on each evening was a huge benefit.
When the squad had to relocate to allow use of the gymnasiums for summer camps for Mount Vernon Athletes, their next stop was just a few blocks to the north, utilizing the spaces at Cornell College. Weber said he had recommended Cornell College as somewhere for the Colts to reach out to, but they are the ones who made that ask.
“The Colts reached out to us to be one of the host sites during their spring training this year,” said Rachel Krug, Cornell College operations manager. “It has been cool to hear them on campus and in our community over the past few days!”
And the community has taken advantage of coming to watch elements of the field shows in the evening, watching the show at Mount Vernon High School and now Cornell College.
Lisbon band director Joseph Arch and daughter Josie were among those watching the field show Wednesday evening at Cornell College, when three of the four elements of the show were working on the field. The flag core was not ready to join the show Wednesday evening during practices.
“It’s been 31 years since I was a member of the Colts, and they’re a different group than when I was with them,” Weber said. “It has been awesome to see them developing this show and the musicians and talent they are working with are putting out a fantastic show. They had to turn away more than 100 students from auditions, and they have put out an incredible show even as they do 15 to 16 hour days, and still make it fun for those students.”
Weber said he hopes that Mount Vernon can be a continued stop for the group in the future, and he thanked Mount Vernon administration and staff for allowing the groups to be hosted at the school this year.
“It’s been pretty great to see these members here,” Weber said.
Colts Drums and Bugle Corps fill MV with music
Nathan Countryman, Editor
June 6, 2024
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.