20 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 20
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 team is composed of 3 groups. The Show Team,the Parade Corps and the Drum Corps.
TheShow Team and Drum Corps perform in 30 events a year, including both Shows and Parades.
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 Veterans Day Parade, The Orlando Puerto Rican Parade and parades in The Villages,
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!!!
