Senior Nikole Patterson spends her summer tossing flags, sleeping in high school gyms and working her hardest to be a part of the DCI Memphis Sound Color guard. This unusual way of spending her summer has paid off for Patterson, as she was named the first CHS student to be in the All DCI Color guard.

Members of the All DCI Color guard will perform in the halftime show of the US Army All American Bowl on Jan. 9 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX.

The All DCI Color guard is a honor reserved for the 24 best Color guard members in the nation. Patterson applied in May of last year and was notified that she had made the team in October.

“When I found out that I made the team I was really shocked and excited,” Patterson said. “It proved that all my hard work has paid off, and it is an honor to be one of only 24 guard members chosen.” 

In order to qualify to be in the All DCI Color guard, the individual had to have marched in the 2009 season of DCI Color guard and had to be nominated by their director saying that their skill was above average. Also, the individuals’ high school director and team captain were contacted to determine if the individual is good enough to make the team. The high school directors are asked to attest the skills of the individual.

“I was really proud of her [Nikole] when I found out,” CHS Color guard Lieutenant Captain junior  Mercedes Ballard said. “She had been striving to make this team for a long time and I was just as excited for her as she was for herself.”

Patterson departed for the All American Bowl Jan. 5, to begin preparations for the halftime show. The All DCI Color guard had not rehearsed together until the week before the bowl game. The members of the Color guard arrived in San Antonio Tues. Jan. 5^th and spent the week prior to the bowl game learning and perfecting their half time show. This is an unusually short amount of time to prepare and learn a half time show. In order to make the preparations easier, the Color guard members were given assignments to learn ahead of time.

“The guard received two videos with part of the show work in the months before the game,” Patterson said. “We were told to learn the work so that we could be at least a little bit prepared. It was very tough learning a six minute show in three days, but ultimately, it was not too bad.”

The guard and band rehearsed tirelessly the week before, but by the time of the big game, the show was ready.

The show was themed around it’s location in the ‘Deep South’. Two of the songs that the band played during half time in keeping with the Western theme were ‘Hoedown’ and ‘Buffalo Stampede’. In addition, the show also had many military references and the Color guard could be seen holding American flags multiple times.

“The show was so much fun and the experience overall was pretty much amazing,” Patterson said. “It was the chance of a lifetime.”

The trip was even more amazing for Patterson, because it was almost completely free.

“The Army donated basically everything,” Patterson said.

Such things donated were: the props, the practice uniforms, the plane ride and the hotel that guard members stayed in.

“It was amazing and none of the show or game could have happened without the help of the US Army,” Patterson said.

Patterson encourages any students interested in being a part of this prestigious guard to do a summer of DCI Color guard marching and then apply.

“If you really practice and try your hardest, it’s possible,” Patterson said. “It was definitely worth it.”

Ballard is currently a junior and is looking towards the possibility of making the team next year.

“It sounds like something I would want to do,” Ballard said. “I’m thinking about applying.”