On Saturday, February 25, the Downingtown West Indoor Color Guard marked their first WGI appearance in the Philadelphia Regional at Council Rock South High School with their performance of “Amelia,” a show inspired by the famous mystery of the death of Amelia Earhart. The color guard made it through the preliminary round and into finals, where they came in tenth place with a score of 70.79. Although their placement was a little bit lower than ideal, the color guard sure made their mark in the WGI circuit, placing eighth overall in their Scholastic A Division for the Regional out of 23 other groups.

The color guard members started off their Saturday at 6 a.m. sharp for an early morning practice. At 7:30, they set off for Council Rock, where they would be performing in prelims at 10:15, which earned them a score of 72.99 in their division. From there, they set off to a local elementary school for a midday practice, where the guard ultimately found out they had made finals. Olyvia Johnson (’24), the junior section leader, said, “Our original goal was to make finals,” so spirits were high going into the next round.

The West color guard then performed their finals run at 6:40 p.m. Unfortunately, the color guard’s second performance did not go as planned; however, they did take a huge step in their WGI career with this debut. Kimberly Jones, one of the color guard’s instructors, described the day as “long and exhausting, but a milestone within the growth of the program.”

The color guard also made their mark in the WGI circuit with an impressive setup. The color guard’s props consisted of a life-sized replica of the single-passenger plane Amelia Earhart used in her attempt to fly around the world and three telephone towers, each with yards or fabrics flowing down the sides. Needless to say, it takes a village to put this production together. The support that the color guard has received from all of their friends and family has greatly helped the group take these major steps, growing their reputation in the color guard community. “It was great to have a roadie crew, and we couldn’t have done it without all of the parent help,” Kim Jones said.

WGI stands for Winter Guard International, and color guards from various countries travel to participate in the world championships held in Dayton, Ohio. This past Saturday was the first of two WGI Regionals the color guard will be partaking in. The second will take place on Saturday, March 11, in Richmond, Virginia. For the first time ever, the West Color Guard will be traveling to compete in this competition.

The color guard will also be hosting their annual home show combined with the indoor drumline on Saturday, March 4.

The Downingtown West Indoor Color Guard has a very exciting and important couple of months ahead of them.