This is the first year for Fair Grove to have a Winter Guard team. Winter Guard is a lot like the Color Guard team that the school has had for a long time now. The difference between the two is that the Color Guard dances to the music of the band and performs in the fall, whereas, Winter Guard competes with other schools and performs to recorded music inside. The Winter Guard team picked up eight more members in addition to the four that participated in Color Guard. Riley Gautieri and Courtney Patten are the only seniors on the team. This is Courtney’s first year competing in any competition like this. Patten (12) said, “This year has been such a fun year for me and the rest of the team. We have been practicing really hard to get where we are, and I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished.” Gautieri has been a part of the Color Guard team since her freshman year. Even though she has been on the Color Guard team, she said Winter Guard has offered some new challenges she has had to work on.
Their first competition was on January 28th at Republic,. Gautieri, one of the teams soloists says, “For our first competition it went really well especially since we are competing against schools who have done this for many years.” On February 11th, the team had their second tournament at Ozark High School, and Taylor Brumage (10) commented, “We increased our score by a lot, and put ourselves in the running to win.” Taylor and the rest of the team are extremely proud of the way they have performed this year considering that it is the team’s first year with many new members. They have been competing and beating other schools that have had a Winter Guard team for many years. The team’s next tournament is on April 1st at Willard.