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Bragging On the GWA Marching Bulldog Band

paulmooreparks — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:33:23 +0000

My elder daughter, a senior at George Walton Academy in Monroe, GA, is a member of the color guard on the GWA Marching Bulldog Band. This past weekend the band competed in the USSBA Southern States Championships in Chattanooga, TN, where they placed first in the Group VI Open competition with a score of 98.563, the highest score of the competition among all bands in all classifications. This is an amazing band that performs at a high level year after year, and I’m so proud to have gotten to know the directors, students, parents, and many others that make this band what it is.

This year’s show theme was “The Carmen Project.” The show mixed music from the opera “Carmen” with other Latin themes such as Ravel’s “Boléro” while interpreting the story of the opera. It was a grand and moving spectacle that just got better and better every time I watched it. My daughter played the role of Carmen, which of course meant she got to die in dramatic fashion at the end of the show.

Here is my recording of the winning USSBA performance. The actual show starts at the 3:30 mark; before that, you can see the band marching onto the field and doing their warm-up routine.

GWA Football: 2009 State Champs!

Paul Parks — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:10:00 +0000

A GWA defender tries to catch Tony Zenon

The George Walton Academy Bulldogs are GISA state football champions for the 2009 season! They defeated Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany, GA in the class AAA championship game yesterday, with a final score of 42-24. I am so proud of all the parents, grandparents, students, alumni, faculty, and friends who made the trip down to Albany, some of whom (like us) left Thanksgiving vacation early to be there. It felt like a home game: the fans were loud, the cowbells were clanging, the band played, the Dark Army ran up and down by the field, and the cheerleaders nearly fell over from doing high-kicks for every point scored. Hats off to Deerfield-Windsor for playing tough to the very end, and never giving up. Congratulations to both teams for making it to the championship.

Next year George Walton Academy will move to the GHSA, and will be returning most of their current team, so we look forward to more exciting football next season.

GO DAWGS!

GWA Band Marches at Walt Disney World

Paul Parks — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:39:00 +0000

To cap off a fantastic competition season, the George Walton Academy Marching Bulldog Band marched in a parade at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. My elder daughter, Madeline, is a member of the color guard, and my wife and I traveled down to Florida and watched the band march. It was a wonderful experience.

I tried to get some pictures (click the photo below to see them), but they didn’t turn out so well. Fortunately another band dad got some good video of the band (below).

Most of the band parents were running along the parade route, taking pictures and video, and when we ran out of sidewalk we just fell in behind the band. In the second video below you’ll see Jennifer and I sharing a laugh with some other parents about plowing our way through the crowd to keep up with the band. I sure hope Disney lets us come back!

George Walton Academy: Champs!

Paul Parks — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Hey, band, you just won the USSBA championship. What are you going to do now? "We're going to Walt Disney World!"

Congratulations to the George Walton Academy Marching Bulldog Band for taking first place in the Group VI Open division of the USSBA Southern States band competition this past weekend in Chattanooga. My elder daughter, Madeline, is a member of the color guard. They put on a fantastic show, winning caption awards for overall effect, percussion, and music. They also won the Marine Corps Esprit de Corps award. Way to go, band!

Update: Photos here.