Hoeger, 16, lives between Hopkinton and Delhi, with her parents, Betty and Loras Hoeger. She is more than a little excited because she is going to Washington, D.C., to take part in the parade. Connolly, of Dyersville, will also be marching in the parade. He, and his mother, Lori, will be in Washington for the parade and celebration. Lori is a cook for the Colts and Shane plays a concra.
Another area student who will march in the Inaugural Parade is Weydert, who lives in Peosta, and is a senior at Western Dubuque High School.
Dunkel, of Dyersville, and her mother Vicki are busy packing their bags for the trip. Jessica is a member of the Colts Color Guard and Vicki also helps with preparing
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The Colts have a fully outfitted kitchen trailer they take to all events during the summer, but Lori Connolly said they would not take their regular kitchen trailer to the Inauguration Parade. She said, "We will do mostly griddle cooking for the group, like French toast, pancakes and the like. They are really a great group of kids."
Weydert, 18, is a senior at Western Dubuque High School. She has been a member of the Colt Cadets for four years and she has been a Colt for one year. Her specialty is playing the cymbals. According to a Colts spokesperson, the parade route is about two miles long. Members of the Colts will leave Dubuque on Saturday, Jan. 17, for the trip to the nation's capitol and return soon after the parade. The Colts will travel in their own charter buses. They are taking 120 people for the parade and even their instruments will have to be x-rayed for security reasons. Everyone had a background check so they could participate in the parade.
The Colts will stay at a model secondary school for the deaf at Gallaudet University campus. Lori Connolly said, "It is really a good location about a mile from a Metro station.
Hoeger, who is a junior at Maquoketa Valley High School, is a member of the Colts Color Guard, where she completed her first full year as a Colt. She spent two previous years with the Colt Cadets.
She said as a member of the Colts, the entire group competes all summer. From May to August the Colts live in schools where they perform and compete. "We basically live together, sleep on gym floors and live in school gyms. I grew up a lot this summer," she said.
When speaking about going to Washington, D.C., Hoeger said, "I'm really excited about going. I get to march in D.C. and it's especially more meaningful because he (Barack Obama) is the first African-American to be elected president of the United States."
This will be the final performance for Jessica Dunkel. The Colts have an age limit of 21, and she said, "We travel all over and do shows in big stadiums - but to march for the Inaugural Parade is really something special. Plus, it's a chance for me to put on my uniform one more time since I aged out." Jessica is a senior at the University of Iowa, where she has a double major in accounting and psychology.
Shane Connolly has been a member of the Colts for five years. He currently attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is a film major. He said, "I've been practicing to get my chops back so I can play." In looking forward to marching in the parade, he said, "I feel ecstatic to know that I can be a part of history and I can tell people for years to come that I was a part of that."
Like the other members of the Colts, Weydert said she is thrilled to be able to take part in the inauguration. She said she loves being a member of the Colts. "I used to be a little shy, but being in the Colts has changed me a lot - I'm more outgoing now. As far as going to Washington, D.C., is concerned, I feel honored to be able to go - especially when I hear they had to turn away a lot of people."
Lori Connolly said this is not the first time the Colts have been in Washington, D.C. "We have stopped in D.C. in the summer on different occasions and the kids have had the opportunity to visit the memorials, but to be able to have a reason to be there and be a part of the inauguration is something really special," she said.