On Friday, July 2 South Tama will welcome a drum and bugle corp to the community for nine days.

The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps made up of 16-21 year olds. Based in Dubuque, Iowa, the Colts is a member corps of Drum Corps International. Auditions for the corp typically begin in November with camps located around the country.

The Colts, who are directed by Vicki McFarlane, participate in the DCI Tour, typically performing about 30 times each summer. Shows are hosted in stadiums all across the country, culminating with DCI Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Prior to COVID-19 the corp spent about one week at three to five rural tri-state communities in a four week period. A typical day in the life of a Colt includes waking up at 7:30 a.m. on a high school gym floor and practicing until 10 p.m. At the end of the week the corps would perform for the community then packing up to move on to a new destination.

COVID-19 has altered some of their regular plans which is why the corp will be staying at South Tama for just over a week.

The Colts will be utilizing South Tama High School facilities for the nine day training camp.

The Colts will be practicing on both the football field and practice fields. Practices are open to the public, however attendees are asked to keep their distance in order to observe COVID-19 protocols.

On July 10 the corps will put on a performance for the public with the goal being to perform two songs with music and marching and two more songs without marching. They also plan to play a parade tune. There will also be time for representatives from the corp to give information about the corp and their performance.

South Tama’s own high school band director, Mike Carnahan, was a member of the corp the summer between his junior and senior year of high school in 1987.