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The One Remembering Peggy Twiggs
138 Plays5 months ago
This is a very special episode of OAWB where we remember the amazing life of a true legend and pioneer in the marching arts world. Peggy Twiggs past away recently and we remember her for the amazing fun loving, skilled, innovative legend that she is.
Special Guests
Sadie Wallace -
Barbara Bunny Hopkins -
Terri Kelly Kuklinski -
Meet our Hosts
Jackie Brown - @spintronixguard
Stephen McCarrick - @stephenmccarick
Cindy Barry - @leandermomma
Nicole Younger - @o2bnpjs & @thecookoutcg
Trevor Bailey - @t_pain151
Trish O’Shea - @trishdish1002
Beth Beccone - @bether7189
Chris Rutt - @wildhornbrass1
Cynthia Bernard - @cynthiabern
Ashlee Amos - @famousamossss_
Theo Harrison - @harrisontheo07
Stephanie Click - @stephanieclick
Whitney Stone - @dancerwhit
Justin Surface - @J_dex07
Ashley Tran - @itsashleytran
Jack Goudreau - @goudreau_
Bill Woodward - @remoking100
Emily Nee - @tch.makes.art
Ricardo Robinson-Shinall - @ricardorrobinson
Austin Hall - @Austin_hall10
Jose Montes - @joeymontes57
Bobbey Biddle - @bobbeyboy107
Music provided by leydamusic.com Follow him @josh.leyda
Avatars provided by @tch.makes.art
Featuring
Lexi Duda - Host for On A Water Break In Rhinestones - The Stories of the Twirlers @lexi_duda
Thank you also to @guardcloset
#marchingband #colorguard #dci #podcast #onawaterbreak #wgi #drumline
Recommended
Transcript
Commemorating Peggy Twigs
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone, we are back for a very special episode this week, remembering the life and contributions of Peggy Twix. We will find out what made Trish say. it It had the hat and then it had like the thing around the neck. And why Sadie said. They cut the poles down, they got rid rid of the cup, you know, and people were just, oh my God, they were communists. that They were doing all this. All this and more. So get out on the field and we will see you back on the sidelines for this week's episode of On a Waterbreak.
Introduction and Episode Setup
00:00:30
Speaker
Ate off the men and go. Welcome to on a water break.
00:00:36
Speaker
podcast where we talk everything marching arts. Everyone bring it in. It's time for a water break. Welcome to another episode of season two of On A Water Break, the podcast where we talk about everything you and your friends are talking about at rehearsal on a water break.
Meet the Hosts and Guests
00:00:55
Speaker
I'm Jackie Brown. We are here for a very special episode to commemorate the life and contributions of Peggy Twiggs. an icon in the world of Color Guard who we lost earlier this month.
00:01:07
Speaker
Let's see who's on the sidelines this week to celebrate this life and legacy of this incredible woman. Hey, Trish. Hi, everyone. And Sadie Wallace is back. How are you? Good, good. How is everybody? It's awesome to see you again. We're good, we're good. ah We also have two very special guests today who knew Peggy at different points in her life. Terri Kelly, how are you? Hi, how are you? And Barbara Hopkins. Hey, so we, uh, Sadie, of course, has been on before. If you guys have listened to some of the earlier episodes that we did from with about Peggy's twigs, uh, gosh, it's been like a year and a half ago now. It doesn't seem like it was so long.
00:01:56
Speaker
Uh, so please, please go back and listen to that episode with Sadie. That was so good. So if you guys haven't listened to that episode yet, make sure you head back over there after this one and listen to the first conversation that I had with Sadie. We learned so much about Peggy at that point. And yeah, in the meantime, let's go ahead and do our 32 Count Life story.
32 Count Life Story with Barbara Hopkins
00:02:21
Speaker
So this is a tradition that we do with all of our guest clinicians here at On A Water Break. And Barbara, can I start with you?
00:02:31
Speaker
We wrote this bunny and that's very confusing to people who still don't know my real name is Barbara, but I I started off in Drum Corps locally in the Greater Boston area when I was eight years old doing different color guard things and when I was 17 I started off with the 27th Lancers and I was with Peggy as she taught the line there from 1976 to 1980. and what have you done since then as far as like being involved with marching so
00:03:04
Speaker
So i taught I taught a lot. I taught um Blessed Sack during the Rockwood Sack years, went to Color Guard. Oh my gosh. And I went off. My first high school job was Dartmouth High School and they kind of become a legend after all these years, decades really. So I was there for seven years. Wow. And um I actually, I live in Maine now and I actually taught a couple of high schools up here. So, um but I'm kind of retired from that. i I go to shows I'll be in. um I've been going down to Allentown the last couple of years. I've gone to India the last couple of years. I'm looking forward to that as well. And Dolores has me as an official volunteer now for Blessed Sac, so I've been
00:03:50
Speaker
um going down to volunteer to get the shows going. So that's been really fun. I've been out of that for a little while, but I really enjoyed getting back into that. I'm so jealous of the people who knew when it was time to stop because we're not, I mean, I watched a little bit after you, but not a lot after you. And I'm seeing people around me going, I'm retired. I'm not doing guard anymore. I'm retired and retired and I'm so not there yet. And I'm wondering when that's going to happen for me. My boyfriend probably secretly is wondering when that's going to happen for me too. But when I hear somebody say, no, I'm retired from that, like I'm so envious because I don't, I don't know how to do that. I don't know when that's, you know, how that's going to happen for me, but good for you. Did you start when you were eight years old?
00:04:35
Speaker
No, it's like 13.
Terri Kelly's Connection to Peggy
00:04:37
Speaker
There you go. So I think that's the difference. Maybe. Maybe. All right. And Terry Kelly, Kuklinski? Is that how you say it? Oh, yes. That is correct. Is that Polish? Yes, you got it. All right. Terry 32 on the Met. You ready? Yep. All right. So i'm ter I was Terry Kelly when I marched, but my married name is Kuklinski. And yes, it is Polish. um But I started with the marching arts back in New Jersey, not a lot of local drum corps in my area. So I actually started with a high school marching band, had winter garden drum corps instructors that got me really involved in the activity. I marched in Reading Buccaneers in 84 prior to going to cadets. I went to Garfield cadets in 85. marched until my age out in 89. With Winter Guard, I marched in conquest and field of view. I taught field of view and I also taught crossman for two years, 92 and 93. And like Barbara, I have also retired from color. Another one. um I love that. My maiden name is also Polish. That's why I had to, I'm Krasuski, so.
00:05:54
Speaker
if it
Celebrating Peggy's Life and Legacy
00:05:56
Speaker
Uh, so this past weekend, there was a ah gathering of Peggy's family and friends who knew her through marching. And, um, I, I know Sadie, you were there and, and got to sort of speak. Did you want to share, uh, some of that with us as far as like what was said or how you guys commemorated, uh, what she meant to you? Sure, I want to say though that Terry and Bunny were both there as well. So it was great. It's great to see you again a couple days ago, but um it was a wonderful celebration of an honorable life.
00:06:43
Speaker
she had so many friends and people came from all all different states. I will mention George Oliveiro came from California, which was really sweet. You know, I'm from Texas, but there was people from Florida and all over the place. So it was just a ah really nice tribute to her and um We had a wonderful time catching up with everybody. We were trying to be as supportive as we could to her wife Denise, who's been through so much for so very long. um know We've had the Margaret Peggy Twiggs fan club page on Facebook for eight years. but
00:07:24
Speaker
It was even before that that she had started her illness. So you know it's been over 10 years that she's been suffering with that. So you're kind of happy, sad, you know we were happy that she's free. I don't know if you know this about her, Jackie. I'm sure she probably do, but she loved to sing. Yes. And so, you know, being that one of the manifestations of the disease of PSP was that she couldn't really talk that well at all, let alone sing. So we said she's up there singing, doing her opera, Madame Butterfly, of course was her favorite. um And she did like to dance too, actually. So she's up there singing and dancing. Of course we'll miss her, but we're so glad that she is free.
00:08:16
Speaker
Right. Definitely. We did have more of a formal funeral at first and then most of the drum corps type people had a Peggy party afterwards um because she loved pizza and she loved chocolate cake. And we had pizza and we had chocolate cake. And we had stories when she was knocking the icy reveries, which I never knew what icy was for. It was immaculate conception. Is that right, buddy? That's it. I see. That's what it's good for.
00:08:50
Speaker
but she started marching there. The other fun part for me was ah there was women there that were in the first trick line. Do you know about that? yeah Because we talked about it in our last ah the last time we spoke on the pod.
The Evolution of Peggy's Color Guard Techniques
00:09:05
Speaker
but they would yeah They were telling us how it started. They first had like these 10-foot poles with spears on top of them. So they got rid of them, they cut the poles down, they got rid rid of the cup, you know, and people were just, oh my God, they were communists. that They were doing all this. People were complaining about us changing things in drum corps back then. you
00:09:32
Speaker
Yeah, um one of the what if her good Peggy's good friends too, Mary Berkley, who was a ah judge in the New England area for many, many years, and she marched with her too. Yeah, she was funny. She would say, you know, we wanted to go against the rules. You had just to have the inspection. You used to have to wear a hat. you know, part of your uniform. um And they said they wore a hat and then they tied it, they were like a but ah a bandana or something. And then they took it off during the middle of the show and tied it around their neck just to be rebels.
00:10:08
Speaker
I mean, it was it it was great, great stories. I'm wondering if, because that was one of my questions, but ah maybe nobody really, um maybe, I'm wondering if, because I've always been fascinated by this, if that's where the idea for the quasar hat came in. Like the, like it had, it it had the hat and then it had like the thing around the neck. It was all white. money Could have been. I think it may have. Yeah, so cool. Yeah, Quasar was ah was different in that. George Zingali kind of took away from the typical military type uniforms that and I grew up in the same world. And he actually he actually went to more like a Russian constant consume. And it was phenomenal. I mean, no one had ever done that. But Mary Berkeley did her thing first. Yeah.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah, it was great. It was great. um What else can I tell you? um The thing that I spoke about was when I taught with her, I had started back to ah college for my teaching degree. And the thing that was so surprising to me was things that my education professors were talking about, you know how how to teach it. I already knew from her. from Peggy. She already knew that. She did not go to college, but she knew how to teach. She knew how to motivate. And it was just like, well, yeah, I know. I already know that, you know. So that was that was fantastic for me, too. I don't know. What else can I tell you? Barbara, what what was your connection to Peggy? How did you first meet her and and ah there?
00:11:55
Speaker
So, you know, like I said, I started in the local drum corps, which I was also an immaculate conception, Stoughton, Massachusetts. going a different it It depended on what circuit you were in. So if if you were in either the Eastern Master Mayflower Circuit,
Barbara Hopkins' Journey with Peggy
00:12:11
Speaker
you could be your name. So we were the Golden Rays. But if you were in the CYO Circuit, and pretty much everybody was at some point, you had to go by your church name. So I was IC as well. So grew up in the local drum corps. and And my brother, who's five years older, did the same, but he was a really good player. and um
00:12:29
Speaker
When he was 16, he went off and joined the Lancers. Now, I was very fortunate in that my family my family traveled around and we watched not only the local drum corps shows, but we went to the national drum corps shows. So we knew the really good drum corps in the country. So um i wrote I'll never forget the first time I saw them. It was like 1967. They were different. They had different uniforms. And um we were big fans. So when my brother was old enough in 1971 to go off and make the line he made the first soprano line so he was there for a couple of years and of course that was exciting we would go and watch him so i knew that when the time was right i would go off and join them as well so it i stopped my local drum corps after the summer of being 14 spent a couple of years being just a regular person and um went to join the lancers
00:13:18
Speaker
October of 1975 right after I turned 17. So that's where I met Peggy. I had about five minutes sh trying out for the rifle line and probably because I wasn't a very good rifle and probably because I hadn't done anything for a couple years, Ralph Pace literally walked me over and said, hi, meet Peggy Twiggs. So that's when I first met her. um And it was phenomenal. And all of a sudden, Color Guard meant something instead of just kind of being in there. And it was a complete sport. And from the very first rehearsal, the way Peggy broke things down into tiny little building blocks, um I knew this is great. This this is going to be great. And they'd already won Best Color Guard that summer in 1975.
00:14:01
Speaker
So that was a big part of the drum course identity. It was having a really good color guard. And that was your role every single year was to win the caption. And the way that you won the caption in the flagline was you listened to Peggy and did everything she said. And um you're all laughing because that's true. So um I was amazed. And I was always interested in sports and athletics. and um I'm probably the gym teacher that never was. Sadie could probably relate to that. And I grew up doing dancing and stuff like that. And I had just come off four years in high school gymnastics. And I was pretty good. I wasn't phenomenal. But I was pretty good. And you learn a lot. And um I remember going to the weight room that was a little bit new. And it was all outsized for young women. But we loved it. We loved working on the weights. It made us stronger. But from that very first rehearsal, Peggy's exercises blew my mind.
00:14:55
Speaker
And I said this is great because um I felt stronger, that I felt sore too. The very first night I left was this is totally different, this is a completely different philosophy and um I knew it was in a really great place and I understood what it meant to be best color guard. I mean everything, I mean the rifle line as well, everything was just tiny little pieces perfected and you kept building and building and building and building and um You know, people may have come and gone and tried a couple of rehearsals and they pretty much knew if they could take it or not. So everyone who was left, it was understood this was really hard and it was really hard work ethic. And um i I think back that I don't think we had any less athleticism than any NCAA Division I team, honestly.
00:15:46
Speaker
um And you know they they did they did a video on the local PBS station that year on Channel 2. And they showed one of our exercises of the Flagline where we would lie down, we would do with like we like come off with our shoulders off the floor, and then we had to do like presents for two and back for two. And we never had holsters or anything like that. And it's in the documentary, and it's still crazy that we did stuff like that. But that's what you did. And um that was October. So as as we went through the the winter and, you know, we started rehearsing almost every night.
00:16:26
Speaker
um It got harder and harder and harder. and But it was good. you know and And the very first show, I'll never forget, the first standing ovation. And I knew this is really different. This is big time drum corps. I love this. This is great. And we were we were we were off for a pretty good season. We were better in the first week than we were for the rest of the season. But it was still pretty phenomenal. So that was my first so
Rigorous Training Methods
00:16:51
Speaker
five years with that. That brings up a question. Nice. Was that Peggy's idea to have you guys go and work out in the weight room? No, I may have been confusing you. I worked out of the weight room in the gymnastics team.
00:17:06
Speaker
And then, but i I thought that I was, I thought that I was, when Peggy did all these exercises, and she had all different exercises that you did, um and they were strengthening exercises. At the same time, it was timing and it was placement, because everything had placement. And I'm doing it right now. um I thought that her, I thought that her approach was more effective than the weight room, honestly. I thought it was harder. So but don't you think, Honey, that hers were specific to what you would be doing? Oh, absolutely. it was up It was complete upper body strength. Exactly. Yeah. I would have been so much better on the balance beam and on the uneven bars if I'd had Peggy then. Right. um That came later. But yeah, it was definitely biceps, upper body, pectorals,
00:17:59
Speaker
Um, you know, a lot of, you know, back stuff, the trapezius, right? Um, it was all of that. and You were really, it was really viciously um a wake-up call to your body when you first started doing Peggy stuff, because it was really hard. But you got used to it. um you know and And during the winter, it's like twice a week. But by the spring, we did it almost every other day. We were we are very strong, extremely strong. um
00:18:31
Speaker
And the the joke in those days was if you had a fight in the drum corps, you'd send the color guard in. And we thought that was great. i just we we We talk a lot about like the moves that Peggy you know invented and created and and sort of the the techniques that she created for performance. but But really what you're saying is like, it wasn't just that she was creating these things for the field. She was also creating these sort of like workouts and stuff behind the scenes to actually get to be able to be at that point where you guys were actually athletes. And I feel like that's, especially for that time, that was probably so, so innovative.
00:19:12
Speaker
It was, and I don't think she thought of that specifically, but I think she knew what to do to get us in shape, to do what we needed to do out on the field. and um you know Everything was really fast. It got faster. By my fifth year, we did some really fast stuff. and um and We went from the poles that you would buy from um companies that would just make flagpoles because we bent them and we we bent them and broke them um and Peggy always get excited I mean that was normal for us was oh you've got to get into the place so in 1979 and I don't know who figured it out but someone went to the plumbing supply store and we got um pipes and that's what we used and we had them soldered to shape
00:19:56
Speaker
And then we had them soldered so they wouldn't cut our hands off. And then we put plastic stoppers at the bottom. They weren't rubber, they were plastic. And you'd have to replace them like every two or three days because they would wear out. But the the poles didn't and they were really heavy but that was just another another piece of this whole week training that we did and um everything we did on our right arm we did on our left arm always always always. one yeah Plus that pole had to support those two flags you had on that pole. Yeah we had two silks on the flags
00:20:32
Speaker
Um, so yeah, those things were really, really heavy. And we loved it. We were so happy that we didn't bend those things. I am so fangirling right now. This is like my like 15 like 13 year old girls like dream right now. Like I'm so fangirling right now. Well, I'll tell you kind of I don't know if it's a funny story, but It's real. um Prelims at Allentown in 1979, we were practicing, and we had that move, right? we We came together in an arc, and then we got together and did the kick step and the 50-year-old, and we had to do this thing that went around our head, our waist, and knocked myself in the head and knocked myself out. I wasn't completely knocked out, but I was dizzy.
00:21:17
Speaker
And um because you weren't allowed to to faint or get dizzy during rehearsal, because you just weren't allowed to do that. no i i I gave myself a smack in the head. And I remember um Peggy's brother Franny was there that day. And he said, Peggy, let her out. Let her out. And he kind of took me to the sidelines, took me out of rehearsal. We were saying in dorms, he he brought me in and made me take a nap. And he said, do you feel OK? And of course, I said I did. but um right But no, it wasn't that hard to do something like that. um They were really heavy, and we were really strong. so And we went on that night. We won Best Color Guard. at ported No, I think we tied, actually. It poured. It poured and poured and poured that day, if anyone was there. Yeah.
00:22:09
Speaker
So I, in preparing for the show, I had a little note that I noticed being someone who performed at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics myself. Were you at the
Performing at the 1980 Winter Olympics
00:22:23
Speaker
Olympics? Can you tell us about that? I was. I was at the Olympics. It was amazing. What year was that? Like a dream come true. And there it was. And so it was 1980, Lake Placid. And they put us on three buses on a Tuesday night. And maybe it was a Wednesday morning. So we drove to, which was, it's like five hours, six hours from Revere. And we had no heat, because who needs heat? and um And we got there and we stayed at a little school called,
00:23:02
Speaker
in a town called Tupper Lake, which is like 20 miles from the mountain. It's a very pretty area. And they put us on the bus the next day we went in and did a dress rehearsal at the rink where it was kind of the headquarters for the for a Lake Placid. And they had a ceremony inside that rink, which is for the locals and all the churches and the civic organizations, they called it the ecumenical ceremony to kind of give that feeling of it's a world event. And um what they did was they just took the color guard and even the rifles had to be flags for this. And we basically, we were we walked out with each country's flag in single file around the perimeter inside the rink. And I got to be Greece because I was the shortest, so. And then Murray Berkeley was the second shortest because they let people, they let alumni do it. And she was like 28 and she took time off for work to do it. It was so exciting.
00:23:56
Speaker
And um so we did our little dress rehearsal and then we put our uniforms on, our summer uniforms on, and we're all excited and we're all lined up and everything like that. And the guy who ran the ceremony was a guy named Tommy Walker who made his entire career in doing big events. And um he stood in the front and his girlfriend, her name was Judy, they were in charge of getting this show off the road. And um the lights were dimmed and they had a live orchestra and they they were ready to bring us out and he looked at me and he said can you guys like keep equal space i'm like we'll do four paces so we just yeah you know down the line four paces and we went off and the orchestra broke into crown imperial most unbelievable
00:24:43
Speaker
Oh, my God. And of course, we freaked out. um not But, you know, we're a professional. You steer, you steer to the front all the time. So we went off and we did that ceremony. It was amazing. And the light bulbs and everything like that. So it was the first thing we did. And Tommy Walker was so impressed that he booked us into a whole bunch of other events leading up to the opening ceremony. So we the drum corps was sent downtown to do commercials. They had us do something out on the ceremony field for Good Morning America. And he just kept thinking, he was he loved it. You guys are great. He loved us. It was phenomenal. So it was a great experience. And then i I shared this story the other night, because of some circumstances, which are kind of funny. I ended up being the person along with Nancy Scopa, our color guard captain and
00:25:34
Speaker
Bonnie Vare, one of our rifles, the three of us held the the American section for the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Winter Olympics. And it took me 40 years to find the video. that i said that year we can share and um media So we went on right after the American hockey team got their gold medals. So we watched that from the back. So it was pretty amazing. A miracle on ice. Oh my gosh. No, we didn't sing it because we were rehearsing. That's the next big thing. So yeah, that was a pretty cool experience. So was Peggy was still your instructor during all of this?
00:26:13
Speaker
like do Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And you know what's so fun about that? She was relaxed. It was just fun. She knew what we could do. I mean, we weren't competing, right? We were just being ourselves and she just soaked it all up with, wow, this is great. You know, I made this. They know what they're doing. This is no pressure. No competition. They're just out there kind of representing. And it was, and we didn't, yeah I mean, everything we did, we knew how to do. I mean, we were the perfect pick, really. So I love that so much. And like her personality was able to just kind of come through and and be chill and, and whatnot.
High Standards and Strength Training
00:26:51
Speaker
So, so after that point, then um Peggy went to the cadets and
00:27:01
Speaker
Terry, is that where she met you as well? It is about 10 years after Bunny. I auditioned for Garfield in 85. I had wanted to go in 84. Some people that I did marching band with a group of them had gone up and marched I was only 16 at the time. My mother said no way, so um I did not get to go. Yeah, she sent me to Senior Corps, though. She she learned that sending me in Junior Corps was the better option. So 85, I got to go, and I met Peggy and Sadie that winter.
00:27:38
Speaker
um similar to what Bonnie had said. So now I'm getting Peggy about 10 years later. So a little bit more time where she's really refined her technique. And that's really the big difference that I noticed those first few months there. Now we had done weekend camps because at this point in Drum Corps, people now we're traveling from all over the place. to come and march in their core um of choice. So we would once a month do a weekend camp. This was still in the day that even the color guards did. Remember the weekend camps all through the winter.
00:28:15
Speaker
Yeah, oh, so much fun. um and But then her emphasis on the technique was what was really new for me. And I had learned I had earned a spot pretty early on in the audition process. But that didn't make it any easier. It just, you know, that little peace of mind, but also knowing I had to stay on my game because one of the things you learn about Peggy right away is that she demands excellence. She demands hard work. She demands excellence. She knew how to get you there.
00:28:51
Speaker
based on where you were starting and how willing you were hard to work. So um besides all of the exercises for strength and someone had mentioned up there, the holding the pole straight out for crazy amounts of times, we still did that for a bit back when I first started. But it wasn't just the upper body strength. One of the things that really stuck out with me is how much, um how important the strength of your hands and this part of what's.
Peggy's Dedication to Excellence
00:29:23
Speaker
And everything she had us doing, we would spend, again, very similar to what Bonnie said, like crazy amounts of time on very small chunks of work or small chunks of her technique, and then gradually build on and on and on. But everything had a purpose. And it was all about any color guard could be good, but a color guard that also had solid, consistent technique, that's what made you better than good. That's what really drew great.
00:29:56
Speaker
And that's something you learned from Peggy pretty quickly. And you know like Bunny said, there were people that her style and her insistence on always pushing yourself just wasn't for everybody. But for those of us that it was, we stung around stuck around for the long haul. um We loved her. She loved us. And wow, did we learn a lot and accomplish a whole lot. it's so true It's so true what you guys are saying about she, even if you didn't come in with that training, she knew how to get you there.
Encouragement and Personal Growth
00:30:33
Speaker
So I met Sadie when Sadie and Peggy actually, when um I was in royal New York Royal Guardsman Winter Guard in 1984. I had marched 81 and 82. Then I took 83 off because my parents told me I was starting college and Color Guard was over.
00:30:52
Speaker
Look at me now. It didn't work. And then Brian McCormick, who was our in-house caption head person, whatever, amazing, called me every weekend, every Friday night. I have a flag spot. I don't have classes on Friday. I will come and pick you up. And I said, I didn't ask them yet. I'm afraid. I'm afraid to ask them. Call me next week. So finally, a couple of weeks later, it went on and on, and I went, The reason why Brian keeps, finally I went in and I said, the reason why Brian keeps calling me is he wants me to come back.
00:31:26
Speaker
And they were like, oh, my parents were like, oh my God, please go back. We can't take it anymore. Just go back. We can't listen to it. We don't want to listen to it anymore. Just go back. So now, after taking that year off, you know we come back with our in-house staff is still there, Brian, all those people, Mike Johnson. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention you know everybody from Jampa um and our captains and whatever. But now we have a new staff of Jerry Cordino's, now our show designer. Sadie was... in-house, trying to teach these people who never did dance before how to like incorporate dance into this activity. um And Peggy and Diddy Sponfiglia would come down sometimes.
00:32:05
Speaker
and There was a ah kid in the flag line, maybe you remember, maybe you don't, but his name was
Teaching Methods and Unique Connections
00:32:12
Speaker
Tom. And he was really young and he was really tiny. And um now he's a grown man with kids and a family and whatever, but he's doing really well. But she used to call, she used to she figured out the way to get him to get you know to get on on the same page as her. he would She would be like, you know what, Tom? You're like the, you know what I see when I see you? You're like the little pizza box guy. You're like the guy on the pizza box. And that like became their little like connection and and as as as would have it, he got he got it. he They jived, they had that connection and then they he got it. So really, really incredible experience. I'm so grateful every single day that I had the instructors I did and the training that I did because it's just it's carried with me even right here sitting here.
00:33:06
Speaker
I feel so left out. Like I didn't get to actually meet her in my life, you know, you guys, ah but I do feel like close to her first of all, because I've learned so much of her techniques without even, you know, necessarily knowing how much of it was hers.
Guard Closet and Community Impact
00:33:21
Speaker
But you know, through being able to talk to everybody on the podcast, and this has just been such a great experience for me, I wish I wish I brought my Peggy shirt. I wish I wore that today.
00:33:32
Speaker
You guys have got your peggy shirts. Yeah, see? and Me too. It's so great. but Well, we need to get some more reps in. Let's do a peggy spin block too. So you guys get back out on the floor and we'll be right back into this.
00:33:55
Speaker
Hey, this is Christine Reem and Chris Green. Guard Closet was founded as a consignment business in 2000. Since then, it has grown to include Winter Guard, band, percussion, and other genres. We can help you with custom flag and costuming designs. Our consignment inventory has plenty of great looks for your color guard, drum line, and marching band. Pay it forward. When you purchase consignment, you help other programs. Last year, we sold over 400 sets of consignments and returned over $125,000 in payments to our consigners for their skills. Additionally, Guard Closet offers custom and pre-designed costumes, flags, floors, and formal wear, full or partial showwriting, educational programming, and other services.
00:34:39
Speaker
Max out your rehearsal time and set up a microsite for easy student ordering for shoes, gloves, and other equipment. The Guard Closet team is here to help you get everything you want and need for your season. Check us out at guardcloset.com and follow us on social media.
00:35:07
Speaker
We are back.
Stories of Support and Understanding
00:35:08
Speaker
Let's do a gush and go session. That way we can say our final thoughts that we want to pass on to our listeners about Peggy or maybe even to Peggy herself. Great job, everyone. Set your equipment down. Gush and go.
00:35:24
Speaker
Trish, do you wanna start us off? Okay. um Well, first of all, to Peggy, I wanna say thank you. I think I said everything I could, Sadie, when I ran into you guys in the Dayton Airport that year. um you know Thank you for, you know, everything that she taught me, everything. I know it was only a really short time. I do have a really short story. So um she also came back with Jerry and George and that whole crew in 1986, which was our Dindata year. um Those of you who remember that show.
00:35:59
Speaker
um Thank you. So there was one part of the show where um I was a saber. And then and in in the middle of Dindada, almost all the sabers went on rifle except for myself and one other girl, Jackie. And she was like us like a soloist. So when there was one part in rehearsal where sheet the Denise Bonfiglio took the rifles, and she was over there with them. And then our flag tech, Mike Johnson took the flag line, but they were working on work that was prior to the part where I switched over to flag. So I didn't really have anything to work on. So I just took my saber out and I started spinning on my, like working on my choreo on my own and Peggy came over and she was like, what are you doing over here by yourself? And I was like, well, I'm not in that part and I'm not a rifle and I'm not in that part. And she was like, okay, great.
00:36:53
Speaker
So like, it wasn't anything like, you know, you always thought these people were going to be like, no, get over there. And she was not like that at all. She was like, all right, cool. So practice on your own, you know, and then I was talking to her and whatever. And um so thank you for all of that. And I thank God every day that I have the instructors that I did, and especially Peggy. And I'm so grateful that she's not suffering anymore. And I'll always refer to Tom Milton as the pizza box man. I mean, ah Tom Schlitz. No, sorry. Tom Milton was our instructor. Tom Schlitz as the pizza box man because of Peggy Twiggs and um all that great stuff. So thank you. faie Okay, so um just to kind of tag on to Terry's little story.
Hard Work and Commitment
00:37:33
Speaker
She came in 1985. Myself,
00:37:37
Speaker
George Zingali, Mark Sylvester, Peggy Twiggs, we came in 1982, which was sort of a revamping of the cadets. And the cadets were very, very military, um you know, just for sure to the hilt. The wonderful Michael Cesario, completely changed the color guard's uniforms to incorporate the military, but he had a lace and he had it the skirt, the prairie skirt, and the little flower in the hair. um So that was just a whole new reinvention of the cadets. So 82, I don't remember what we were in prelims, but we came out as third.
00:38:22
Speaker
in finals in 1982, which was just, you know, astonishing. Everybody was freaking out. So then we went on 83 and 84 to win back to back. And then by the time Terry got there in 85, we kind of knew what we were doing pretty much how to get them, you know, how to get the color guard to where they were, how to get the whole drunk court to where they were. But I always remember Peggy saying, um You know, that people would bring us in and out to help their guards and they would say, oh, you know, Peggy's just going to wave her magic wand and we're going to be good, you know, or Sadie's going to, you know, wave her magic wand. And Peggy always said, at rehearsals, when it was hot, when it was sweaty, ah when we were so tired, she'd go, this is the magic wand. The hard work. What you do at rehearsal, you do at a competition.
00:39:19
Speaker
right? And i'm I'm sure she preached all that to to you guys too. So there was no magic wand. The magic wand was hard work. And that's what she did. That's what we did. That's what we taught. And that's what everybody learned. So And then in 1985, because Terry was there, of course, we won our third triple. Which is amazing. Which I don't know if anyone's ever done that yet. I'm not sure I don't keep up on stats and drum corps, but it was it was a very special
00:39:51
Speaker
special year for us, too. So we were glad you were there, Terry, and that you stayed there, and that you stayed and after we were gone, and then we came back. and That's a whole nother story. Which we didn't talk about that. Yep, that's another podcast. We did not talk about that.
Community Events and Cultural Impact
00:40:08
Speaker
Maybe another time. Terry, I think you were at, um, because I was there, I think you were at that, that a couple of years back when we did that Peggy spin fest in Allentown. Oh yeah. We all put our own flags and there were a million of us out there doing Peggy spins. It was amazing. It was so much fun. um We need to do that again because I want to do it. And this is the first time we've mentioned Peggy spins in this whole podcast. Have you noticed that? Terri, what would you like to add on to for your Gresham Go? ah There's so much.
00:40:44
Speaker
um But with Peggy, with with all of her technique, and this is kind of bouncing off of what Trish said, is that pit Peggy had a way of recognizing where you were and getting to know you as a person and figuring out how to get you to that next step. And while she you always strove for perfection, your level of perfection, like where I was in 85 was very different from where I was when I finally aged out in 89. And Peggy pushed me every year to get to that next level.
00:41:20
Speaker
um But she did it in a way where you knew, even if you had a bad day, and believe me, there were days that I called home and said, get me a plane ticket, get me out of here, this woman's crazy. And hours later, I put a few more coins in the phone and say, okay, everything's good, we're all right now. ah You always knew she believed in you. the and that she believed in you even when you didn't believe in yourself. And the hard part is, is that she would push you and she would push you to the point where sometimes you were just exhausted or full of emotion. But then when you look back on what happened, you always knew is because she knew that you could do more.
00:42:07
Speaker
and that you could be more. And it wasn't just with flags. So one of the things that I had shared um at our Peggy party on Monday was that in 89, she had asked me to be captain. And initially I said, yeah, because how do you say no to Peggy was something like that. But as the season was approaching and as the summer was going on, I was really out of my element. I was out of my comfort zone and I truly didn't think I could do it. And as many times as I asked her to let me out of it, um she said no. Well, actually, she never said no. She would just smile at me and then point and make me go away. But she never gave up on me, even when I tried to give up on myself a few times that summer. And when I finally had done something that she meant something to her for me, she just kind of looked at me and went, all right,
00:43:02
Speaker
That's what I wanted you to learn about yourself." And she just walked away. and it was ah It's something that I take with me every day. So, you know, through life, you always have those moments where you don't think you can do something. You you just, you you can't push yourself any forward. That's one of those things that keeps me going. Okay, maybe I don't think I can do it right now, but something deep down in there will come out because there's always a Peggy in the background, you know, her little voice reminding me that I can do it.
00:43:37
Speaker
did jack before brian gets Can I say one more thing real quick and I know bunny and I think Terry you heard this too at the at the funeral um We were saying so many people said it that we should have had buttons that said I was her favorite because that's how she made you feel.
Lasting Influence and Personal Development
00:44:01
Speaker
And this wasn't just color guard people, right? It was drummers, it was horn players. She loved the people in the pit, you know, but we all, and we were kind of joking with ah each other, you know, Joanne McGillicuddy, you know, different people in the Lancers and for Chorus, and we all said, but you know, I was her favorite. You know, and I go, no, no, I was her favorite. So we had a sort of little fun competition, but that's how she made you feel.
00:44:28
Speaker
yeah Even as an instructor, I was her favorite instructor. So I had to throw that in before not Barbara, bunny. I feel like I need to call you that now. What would you like to gush and go about? yeah you know I've been by name you my whole life. um What, you know, so I thought I thought a lot before I wrote on my Facebook page about Peggy and I i called her Peggy Twiggs University and I'm a graduate. And if you're a graduate, you know, um and I'm always grateful because the hard work, unbelievable amounts of hard work. um You know, we happen to be female. That didn't matter, right? I mean, the the
00:45:12
Speaker
the incredible exhaustion and time that we spent doing our thing was unbelievable and um you know the technique was perfect and it had to be perfect and if you didn't have your hand where you're you know on one of your positions everyone had to stop you had to do it again so um i'm grateful for that learning how to make something really really great you have to make sure that you have the the little pieces and um just the experience that look most people wouldn't buy on to the amount of work that she
00:45:49
Speaker
that that she did, but we learned that if you did work through it, you would get the rewards. And every season seemed to have its own. June was one way, July was one way, August was one way, and the last week of the season was the most vicious, horrible, difficult, she wouldn't talk to you. um Everything was perfect. It was, um it was the I mean, my last year was the year that Mount St. Helen blew up, and we called her Mount St. Peggy. And, um, she would jump you know, you're not good until I say you're good, which is pretty much the pinnacle of the universe. So, you know, we just wanted to get better and better and better and better. But, um, you know, we if when you went out and you did a great show, it was worth it. So I remember that for the rest of my life and, um,
00:46:41
Speaker
I i used ah use it all the time. um what ah What a great experience we have that we were able to stick with that and to go through that and to achieve that. And I think for all of us, um we're we're just grateful it made us tenacious, very tenacious. um high goals and know and knowing knowing how to meet those goals. And you just go for it. um No matter what, you're always competing against yourself. That's another thing about Peggy. And I think my last thing is she was the same way. And Joanne and I went to visit her to watch the, you know, we were all into sports, you know. I always called her my Bill Belichick.
00:47:23
Speaker
Every season, you know you've got someone that's producing a winning team, and people are talking about how it's the most difficult environment. you know you just have to You have to execute the pieces and show that you do them. And that was us. but as as horribly ill as she was and it was for 12-13 years and it got worse and worse and worse and worse so Joanne and I went to see her the day that the Celtics who just won their 18th NBA championship and of course we're into sports and in em Boston we're into Boston sports as we went into her house Peggy had always managed to get on her exercise bike as sick as she was and as we walked in
Enduring Strength and Final Days
00:48:04
Speaker
and
00:48:04
Speaker
There she was. She was finishing up her exercise routine. This was like maybe two and a half weeks before she actually died. And there she was. So one of her phrases every season was June is busting out all over, meaning that's the first part of the season. You've got to go in. You've got to start to um set your expectations and understand that every every second has a purpose until the finals. And and you have to do what you have to execute it. And there she was. very last time we saw her. I'm so glad that we got to see her that day. When we talked, she knew all all the stories. She laughed. We told a lot of stories I wouldn't tell on this podcast. um It was great. So yeah, that's what I'll leave is, you know, her strength.
00:48:49
Speaker
at the end. She always had it. Can I piggyback off of that a little bit because there were a group of us from the 80s, her guard girls, who kept in touch with her over the past 10 to 12 years. And um her love for her girls and her kids never stopped either. So as much as she was struggling and fighting through it, she never stopped worrying about us and she would occasionally you know bring up, you know I wish I could have done more for you. She always wanted to know about my daughters. One of my um closest friends had her own health battle
00:49:30
Speaker
ah with cancer and Peggy was always just so worried about Pitsky and wanted to do what she could to help her and wishing she could do more. So while she's both struggling and pushing through on her own, her love for the people that she taught never, never stopped. She continued to care about us. Absolutely. Add time for one more thing. Yes.
The Legacy of Peggy Spins
00:49:57
Speaker
Because we we're in drum corps and they we get scored and 100 is the perfect score, she was always talking about perfection, that ever elusive perfection. Can it be attained? Is it possible? But in her, and I say this fondly, in her steel-trapped, glorious mind, perfection was indeed a possibility.
00:50:20
Speaker
And I said to the party, a definition of perfection is the process of improving something until it is faultless or as faultless as possible. And to me, that was a definition of the friendship and the friendship she had with everybody she taught and knew as well. That's amazing. That's amazing. I well, you mentioned earlier to the um there's the Peggy spins. Well, it's the Margaret Peggy twigs fan club on Facebook. Is that something that is open to any of our listeners who might want to um get involved with learn about Peggy's life and that sort of thing?
00:51:02
Speaker
Absolutely. um I kind of changed the criteria so that um when they look at who is requesting, if they have certain things on their Facebook page, they will automatically get in. Otherwise, I look up people because there's been a few, you know. I don't know why that wanted to come in and have nothing to do with Drum Corps or anything. and so i you know But yeah, absolutely. I've had so many since July 7th come in and participate on the fan page just so that they could see what was happening in the pictures and the photo. and
00:51:38
Speaker
everybody's stories, everybody's beautiful tributes. So absolutely. Yeah, we'll keep it up for a while. I have to talk to Denise about it. But um and yeah I know in the past, which you guys are wearing your Peggy shirts, you guys did um Peggy twigs, t shirts and pins and things as sort of a fundraiser to help with some of her medical costs and such like that. Is there anything and that's going to be happening like that within the group for her funeral arrangements or anything like that that we could help out with? um Not at this time, but I do want to talk to Denise about it a little bit. Yeah, because um this, well, the shirt Terry has on, yeah show them your shirt, which is came with this pin as well. This was the updated one. See, I have the first shirt. I need to go get the new one. I have i am the first one. Well, the new one and we don't have in production yet, but
00:52:36
Speaker
lot riot. I don't know if you know a lot riot that company but they were the ones that did that the shirt that Terry has on and the pin and masks at the time. Thank God we don't have to have those. um You know, possibly we'll maybe do a reprint of that or even this one because this one is very popular now especially. So it would be amazing if we did something um to donate to a foundation or something for the disease that she suffered. Yes. For like research or, you know. Yeah, I mean, you're welcome to do that on your own. It's para supranuclear palsy. A long, a long name. but Which is why I didn't attempt it. but Yeah, I've been saying it for 10 years. Right. Now that would be fantastic. Yeah.
00:53:31
Speaker
And otherwise down the road, I don't know if there'll be a scholarship fund, whatever. Being in that group, it's still in the works. It's still a little raw. Just sort of stay in the loop on what's going on with everybody. I love that we've been able to sort of keep in touch. Honestly, as much as social media has its faults, that has been one thing that I I am so, so grateful for, I'm so grateful for this podcast. I appreciate you guys so much for coming on and talking to us and, you know, sharing all of this with all of our listeners, because I think it is so important to, you know, share this history so that people understand where Color Guard came from. It wasn't like it just appeared out of nowhere and people were throwing guns in the air and sitting on the ground, rolling around and catching them. You know, there, there's been a buildup to this point of what we see today in DCI and WGI and
00:54:20
Speaker
And I mean, you guys were the foundations of it. And Peggy was, you know, was absolutely at the core of all of that. So it's so important to understand. Absolutely. We in this room and countless others of us out there in the Color Guard universe are the ones who learned how to do Peggy spins from Peggy. I mentioned that on one of our previous podcasts that many, many years later, many, many years later, I marched in at the now DCI-OLH core. They're not around anymore, the Syracuse Brigitteers. And we were in Flag Block and one of our
00:54:56
Speaker
um instructors was a Cavalier age out and whatever. And, um you know, we're all in flag block. And he's like, I'm going to do Peggy spins. Does everybody? Is there everybody knows how to do Peggy spins, right? And I raised my hand. And he's like, he's like, Where did you do them? And one of your previous cards? I said, Yeah, I did. And I learned them from Peggy. So that's a proud moment. And the entire block turned around and was like, So it was a really cool moment. It was a really cool moment. So they all everybody in this room and countless others out there, we have that claim to fame for sure. 103, all vertical. Definitely. okay ah Thank you guys so much for a great rehearsal this week. Thank you, Trish, for being on to host with me. i Thank you to our guest clinicians, Sadie Wallace, Terry Kelly, and Terry Kelly.
00:55:48
Speaker
<unk> I now I'm not even gonna say your name right. Gosh, darn it. I was so proud of myself. very clearly is ah And also Barbara Hopkins. bye If our listeners want to follow you guys on social media, where can they find you at? Mine, my Facebook is just Sadie Wallace. My Instagram is m dot Sadie Wallace. So pretty easy. And not too many of us around.
00:56:18
Speaker
I am mostly on Facebook with the Terry, Kelly Kuklinski, although I am a teacher, so you can't just look at my page. You have to request um a friend, just school rules have to follow those along. You have an Instagram, but that's honestly mostly because my teenagers are on it and I don't use it all that much, but you're welcome to. Oh, is it my turn? Yes. So, you know, I'm sorry, I'm, I'm in the very infant stage of starting a business where I teach people about Medicare online. And I created a special Facebook page. The name of my company is Medicare Night School K and IGHT Medicare Night School. love So I have a special page, Medicare Night School for
00:57:05
Speaker
DCI DCA WGI because it's gonna be kind of like a combination Drum core cuz you know, I don't mix the I don't mix the drum course stuff with the The regular Facebook stuff, you know what I mean? um So yeah, go ahead and feel free to go to night school I like that's clever One more thing, don't forget we have our YouTube channel. Many of our interviews are coming on there as full video editions. So go and subscribe, make sure you don't miss those. And then of course, before you close out of your podcast listening app, subscribe, write us a review and share this with a friend. Follow us on social media at on a water break and we'll see you at the next rehearsal on a water break.
00:57:51
Speaker
The On A Water Break podcast was produced by Jeremy Williams and The intro and outro music was produced by Josh Lida. To learn more, visit lidamusic.com. And until next time, thanks for tuning in.