Saturday was a big day for the members of The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps.
That’s because for the eighth year in a row, the highly popular Villages performers marched in the Orlando Citrus Parade. The annual event celebrates the holiday season and the Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl game at Camping World Stadium, which this year features Penn State against the University of Kentucky.
Ann Pelle, who serves as captain of the team, said the 50 team members who attended the event really enjoyed the camaraderie between everyone who was taking part in the parade.
“Every year I saw it is the most awesome,” she said. “But this year there were more college bands than ever and we really enjoyed performing with them.”
Pelle said the first year the team performed in the event – she calls it a big, big, big parade! – was somewhat intimidating. But that feeling quickly went away. And today, the team looks forward to the event all year long – especially the opportunity to share time with the younger performers and make new friends.
“We’re thrilled to be around those college-aged kids and to be able to perform with them,” she said. “They are just very polite and we just have a ball with them.”
Saturday also was special for Pelle because her 14-year-old granddaughter, Kayla Crittenden, of San Diego, marched with the twirlers holding one side of the team’s banner. Kayla, who also performed with the team on July 4, was visiting with her mom and dad, Sean and Jenn. Sean, who is Pelle’s son, is a former Marine Corps pilot and a 1999 graduate of Penn State, having attended the prestigious university on a full-ride Marine Corps scholarship. So he and wife Jenn also plan to attend Tuesday’s game to root for the Nittany Lions.
“It really was a super-fun day for me,” Pelle said. “It was great to have Kayla on the banner right in front of me, so I could watch her the whole way. She stayed in the step the whole time and had a big smile on her face as she waved to the crowd.”
Pelle said it was also great to have Sean and Jenn, decked out in Penn State gear, on the team bus for the parade.
“Sean got to see alma mater’s band and his mom marching in the same parade,” Pelle said with a chuckle. “They really had a good time and they walked with us from the beginning of the parade to the end.”
The Citrus Parade caps off an extremely busy month for The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps. They performed at the monthly Cruise In at Spanish Springs Town Square and were a big part of the Christmas tree lighting ceremonies at Spanish Springs Town Square, Lake Sumter Landing Market Square and Brownwood Paddock Square. And at Brownwood, Pelle served as the emcee for the event and was joined onstage by fellow team members Jerry Peacock and Linda Lovering.
