Waving their flags in spiraling formations, the graceful Plant City High School color guard is a vision of beauty during competitions. But one thing is not picture perfect when they compete — the team’s aging vinyl floor.
The color guard has to provide its own staging floor during its winter guard season starting in January. But the current floor is already four years old and has four layers of paint on it from past competitions. It is almost too heavy to carry because of the paint, and the peeling flakes are starting to make it dangerous for the team to dance on.
“Because there’s so many holes and wrinkles, you can’t lay it down flat,” junior Kendale Sellers said. “It’s like dancing on an obstacle course.”
To pay for a new floor, the team is hosting a yard sale fundraiser from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at PCHS. A professional-grade floor will cost the team about $1,000.
In past years, former leadership took shortcuts by taping a collage of vinyl billboards together to make a floor. When they lift it up, the team can see advertisements from McDonalds and dentists offices. Choreographer Andy Snow and coach Lauren Kenney wanted to get the real thing for their color guard.
“It feels like they want to make us better, they want us to succeed,” sophomore Caroline Guiddy said. “I can fall back on them, I can trust them.”
Besides the floor not being a professional one, the paint has had a lot to do with its deterioration. For each competition, the floor is painted to match the song and theme. Last year, the team did a dance called “Sweater Weather,” where the dancers had a snowball fight with pillows and painted the floor to look like snow. After years of different paint jobs, the team can barely drag the current floor off the stage, and members said it rips if they pull it the wrong way.
This year, the routine to “Over You” involves a floor mural of a rushing river. There will be a bridge prop to signify overcoming the obstacles of ending a relationship. It’s an emotional piece, and having a new floor would only help the team in its performance.
“It means a better performance and something to work for,” junior Bethany Guiddy said.
The floor is the pinnacle of the winter guard season. Unlike the marching season, the team is in winter guard for the art of performance rather than support for the band or entertainment during the football game.
“I remember last year, the first competition we had — just remembering hearing the crowd,” senior Rebecca Odom said. “You can connect with the audience.”
The team also hosts a large competition at PCHS every year. This year it will be in February. The competition is one of its biggest fundraisers.
“I like the performances,” Odom said. “It’s like a second family.”
IF YOU GO
PCHS Color Guard Yard Sale
When: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 6
Where: PCHS, 1 Raider Place
If you can’t make it, contact team treasurer Beth Odom at (813) 300-3707 to donate.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
