Featured Story
The Dream of WIND
Apr 6, 2009
By Michael Boo
Scholastic guard members spend years bonding as a group, developing friendships that more often than not get frayed when the members disperse to various colleges. Once they graduate from high school, that’s pretty much it for the old gang.
But it doesn’t need to be that way.
Over the past few years, there’s been an increasing trend of Scholastic groups continuing on as Independent guards. WIND, from the far Raleigh suburb of Benson, NC, is one such unit. The guard’s name is derived from “West Independent,” recognizing that its roots lie solidly in the soil of West Johnston HS, where most the members marched. Ten of the members marched the West Johnston guard, one is a guard student of a former member and another is a friend of a member, coming in late to replace someone who got sick and couldn’t finish the season.
West Johnston HS has had a guard for the past seven years. Former members of the high school guard approached West Johnston guard director David Duffy and asked him if he would consider running an independent guard for them. Many had since marched other guards, including successful Open and World Class units, but they had a dream of once again marching together.
When they came to Duffy with this idea, he admits, “I immediately wanted to do it.” When Duffy had come to West Johnson HS, he was still director of The Study, a guard that went from Independent A to Independent Open to Independent World Class and was a finalist in Independent World Finals in 2004. The older students of West Johnston had seen The Study, which was based just a few miles from Benson, and they wanted that for themselves. Duffy adds, “When they approached me, it was to fulfill their dream of continuing on together.”
Because Raleigh has so many major universities in the area, none of the members of the new guard were living too far away from Benson. The one former West Johnston member who had marched World Class finalist guards Northern Lights and Corona came back to march WIND.
Members of the new guard range from 18 to 22 years of age. Two graduated from West Johnston as recent as last year. One set of parents has kids in both groups and is grateful that their daughters have had the chance to march together at the same contest.
Duffy fronted the money to get the guard started. The members’ dues were used to pay him back. The guard worked within the start-up costs and borrowed whatever they could find to get started, rehearsing around the schedule of the West Johnston guards.
WIND’s show was an acoustic version of “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. The song was selected because it was the guard song for West Johnston members. A line in the music states, “Pay in anything to role the dice just one more time.” The lyrics discuss the street light people searching for emotion, and so the show was titled, “The Street Light People.” The floor included the names of many of the guards that are no longer around.
According to Duffy, “In our poetic way, those people enlightened our way to make people stand up. It was our homage to those who came before us. The members selected the guards based on all the videos they’ve seen. We went back into the 1980s.
“They’ve all marched under instructors for many of these guards and have heard so many of the stories about those guards. On day, they added the name of The Study to the floor, which was a surprise to me.”
Part of WIND’s success is due to the support the guard has gotten from the administration of West Johnson HS. Principal Brookie Honeycutt has been to several circuit shows to cheer on both groups, and has even attended two WGI regional events. It’s her way of following up with her students. Duffy says this has allowed Principal Honeycutt to see what the younger students have gotten out of the experience of having WIND around. In addition, the school’s assistant principal of fine arts came to Dayton with the school’s guard.
Duffy encourages anyone who has the time and resources to create a guard for their former high school members, to do it for those who wish to continue on in winter guard. “Our members still have bonds with the West Johnson guard and the younger students idolize the older members. The school guard members learn from the seasoned performers and the older performers get the satisfaction of helping out and handing down their craft. They all mingle at shows. It’s a special treat for them that they can both encourage each other in Open Class Finals.“
Duffy says that WIND has helped bolster the community spirit and has brought together parents from both the former and current students of the high school. “For me, it’s been a dream come true to see the students across the generations from West Johnston, to see them all on the floor, giving everything they’ve got to the audience. They have bought into the mantra of ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’
“It’s been an awesome and rewarding experience to be around so many students who love the activity so much.”
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