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The Lake Charles High School Kilties, Louisiana's first all-girl drill team, became widely known for fast-stepping precision drills, unique drum cadences, and tartan plaid uniforms. To the piercing trill of the Colonels' whistles and the command to "guide right," the drums rolled and the Kilties marched onto the field in perfect ranks wheeling into kaleidoscope formation. The 102-member group fascinated crowds at Wildcat football games, the Sugar and Cotton Bowls, Tulane University games, and countless festivals and parades. Organized by Principal G. W. Ford, Beatrice Field, and Grace Ulmer, the Kilties gave hundreds of young women an opportunity to express their Wildcat esprit de corps. Over forty-four years, they became one of the most enduring drill teams in the United States, and their performances embodied pride, loyalty, spirit, good citizenship, scholarships, community service, honor, and leadership.
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Lake Charles, Louisiana · United States
