19 years ago, the club started with a group of girls that were attending a "Villages Lifelong Learning College" Twirling course
taught by charter member Judy Marshall.
Watching them, it was easy to see that they just couldn't get enough twirling during the class.
So,
after class one day in 2003, Ann Pelle talked to her fellow twirlers about continuing their twirling addiction outside of the classroom.
And
the team was born. Little did those original eight know, that they would soon grow to over 100 members and are still performing
19 years later. The Villages Twirlers are easily one of the most successful teams in all of The Villages.
Today, the team is
composed of many groups within the main team.
The main twirling groups are the Show Team and the Parade Corps. Other groups
include the Drum Corps, the Banner Team and who could ever forget the "The Santa Baby's".
Included within the Show Team are the Ribbon
Girls.
The Parade Corps performs in all of the parades we do as well as some of the larger shows we perform at.
We perform
in over 10 parades a year, both inside and outside The Villages. These include The Orlando Citrus Bowl Parade, The Orlando Veterans
Day Parade, The Orlando Puerto Rican Parade and parades in Fruitland Park, Leesburg, Lady Lake, Bushnell and Eustis to name a
few.
About 5 years after the Twirlers started, the Drum Corps was added to the team. There are currently over 30 members and
are continuing to grow and get better all the time! The Drum Corps paces the team in all parades and performs in most
Twirling events. Today, they are one of the largest drumming teams in The Villages.
The Show Team performs at many of The Villages
events. They have performed in shows at the Savannah Center, the Polo grounds, all 3 town squares, Spanish Springs, Sumter Landing
and Brownwood, at the VA Outpatient Clinic, at many store Grand Openings, at charity events, and even travel outside The Villages
to perform. They have performed at the Sumter County fair, Disney, Daytona Beach, the Strawberry Festival and more.
We have even
performed as an opening act at the Orlando Amway Center for the Orlando Magic! The Show Team and Drummers rocked! And
were invited back to perform again.
Now, almost all of the shows the Twirlers perform in include the Drummers as well. The
two teams work closely together and our shows resonate to their beat. The drummers are truly a fine addition to the team.
Some
of our members have even performed on multiple Rockin The Caribbean with Rocky & The Rollers cruise's in the middle of the Atlantic!
And some have performed at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii!!!
As team captain Ann always says,
The Villages Twirlers ROCK!!!
