Tigerettes: 50 years and counting WATCH THE VIDEO
Lead Summary
By
Caitlin Forsha-crforsha@gmail.com
One might think that 14-year-old high school freshmen may not have much in common with teachers in their 20s, nurses in their 40s or lawyers in their 60s. However, currently 16 young women attending McClain High School have at least one shared interest with more than 400 women in Highland County and beyond.
At some point over the past 50 years, they’ve each been a Tigerette.
As the 2011 fall sports season comes to a close, so, too, does another season for the Tigerettes, as the historic drill/dance team celebrates its golden anniversary.
Formation of the Tigerettes
In 1961, the MHS band was led by Joe Lancia, a “flamboyant man who wanted to make the band flamboyant,” according to Carol (Moomaw) Davis, an original Tigerette and the group’s first choreographer. Davis said that Lancia was encouraging and helped interested high school girls develop the idea for the team.
Another original Tigerette, Sue (Frizzell) Zint, said that she and two of her classmates helped initiate the movement toward a drill team when she was a freshman, during the academic year of 1960-61.
“Terry Jones, Ann Fulkerson and myself went to the principal and asked if we could start a drill team, and that’s how it started,” Zint said. “They backed our proposal, and we took off.”
Zint said that the idea for the Tigerettes originated because cheerleading was a very exclusive group, consisting of only about six to eight girls.
“There were a lot of girls who wanted to participate and weren’t in band, and of course this was before Title Nine – before girls’ sports – so it was just another activity for girls to participate in,” Zint said.
Davis described Lancia as a “forward thinker,” saying that he had to have been progressive to have the insight that girls would want to participate in a new group and that they would go on to become a huge part of McClain history.
“The classes were pretty small back then – I think that in my class, there may have been 60 or 70 kids – and there were 21 girls in the first group, which I think is really terrific for that small of a class,” Davis said. “That many girls wanted to get involved, and I think that speaks volumes for the band director’s insight.”
The Tigerettes evolved from the McClain High School marching band’s flag corps, adding pompoms and dance moves. The Tigerettes eventually took over the entertainment side of the marching band until the flag corps later returned as a separate entity.
Zint said that the first Tigerette uniforms consisted of white blouses that all the girls ordered out of a Sears catalog; handmade sashes “that looked like a Girl Scout sash” and purple velveteen skirts; tights; and of course, the group’s now-trademark white boots.
“The white boots never went away,” Zint said. “And, of course, we had pompoms.”
Davis added that the girls’ pompoms were not as easily obtained as one might think.
“My mother called long distance to OSU and the Lazarus department store and music stores in Columbus trying to find out where we could buy pompoms that were purple and gold,” Davis said. “We bought purple and gold crepe paper, and all the girls made their own pompoms. I have no idea where we were, but I can remember spending all afternoon cutting strips of crepe paper so we would have pompoms for the first football game.”
Davis served as choreographer for the first Tigerette squad. A drum majorette, Davis had a background in dance and had choreographed school musicals. Believing that Davis had the most experience, Lancia asked her to lead the group. The original team was less of a dance team as it is today, but the 21 members of the drill team still set out to dazzle McClain fans when they took the field.
“Boy, we thought we were something the first night we went out on the football field,” Davis said.
Becoming a Tigerette
As the Tigerette squad grew in popularity and the desire to join the squad increased, rules were established to regulate the tryout process.
McClain eighth-grade girls are “recruited” for the team a few weeks before the tryouts, which are promoted through posters and school announcements. Tryouts are held in March so the new squad can learn routines and participate in the Memorial Day parade in Greenfield.
Several days a week after school, Tigerette hopefuls are taught a choreographed routine, and they are grouped into squads of four during the day of the audition. In addition to being judged on their ability to perform the routine, prospective Tigerettes are asked to march to see if they can keep time. Senior Tigerettes, teachers, band directors and Tigerette alumni participate in the judging and selection process.
The following day after the auditions, the results are announced, and on the next day, upperclassmen are able to try out for one of four “officer” positions: captain, co-captain or one of the two squad leaders.
The role of the Tigerettes
The Tigerettes primarily perform throughout the football season alongside the MHS marching band during halftime and often participate in local parades. They also perform with CD accompaniment during halftime at some basketball games. Tigerettes practice four days a week, learning drills with the band and learning their own dance routines separately.
Most women agreed that the dance style has evolved over the years. In the beginning, the team was a drill team and was centered on coordinating with the band, employing a “militant” style.
In the March 1980 “McClain Highlights,” longtime Tigerette adviser and 1960s-era Tigerette Mrs. Debbie Ellis spoke of the team in the 1960s as being “concerned with the sharpness of our routine motions and our formations. Most of our routines were high-kick and simple jazz. We did do more military marching routines.”
Over time, the team evolved into more of a dance team, with the influence of Mrs. Ellis, and the routines’ dances have been altered over the years to fit what is in style.
Three-year Tigerette and former captain and adviser Amy (Priest) Wheaton said that a lot of the routines are roughly the same as they were 25 years ago when she was in school.
“The fight song has changed a little bit in translation, but it’s pretty much the same routine,” Wheaton said. “No one’s ever thought to change it.
“We were more militant and firm when we were there, now they’re a little more dance-y and go with current trends. We were more stiff-armed and weren’t allowed to get into it as much.”
The number of Tigerettes on the squad has varied. The squad has alternated between numbers of as many as 27 and as few as nine, but for the majority of years, there have been approximately 16 girls on the squad.
The Tigerettes’ motto, “smile, sparkle, shake,” started in the 1980s. Since then, the Tigerettes have participated in that cheer before they go out to perform, and alumni Tigerettes still like to include the cheer when they perform at homecoming.
“I think it’s important,” Wheaton said. “The band is there to sound good; I think we’re there to make it look good.”
“I wanted to be a Tigerette because I wanted to smile, sparkle, shake and wear the pretty boots,” current MHS freshman and first-year Tigerette Makayla said.
Debbie Ellis
When asked about the Tigerettes, nearly every Tigerette, young or old, immediately mentions one person as being essential to the longevity and success of the team: Debbie Ellis.
When the squad began, those who were interested and qualified were allowed to participate. However, after the adoption of Title IX in 1972, a variety of extracurricular programs were opened up for girls, and numbers started to fall. Debbie (Smith) Ellis, a graduate of McClain High School, was hired in the 1970s to teach math at school. Concerned about the number of Tigerettes, which had reached an all-time low, Mrs. Ellis, a 3-year veteran of the team, consulted the squad’s adviser. The Tigerettes’ adviser at the time, Mrs. Sharon Hiles, first allowed Mrs. Ellis to assist with choreographing a routine for homecoming. Upon seeing Ellis’ passion for the squad, Mrs. Hiles gave Ellis the position.
“Mrs. Hiles was nice enough to let me have the advisorship,” Mrs. Ellis said in a quote from a March 1980 interview in the “McClain Highlights.”
“Oftentimes teachers are asked to advise a group that they would rather not work with, [and] although our group has its ups and downs, I can honestly say that I am very pleased about being drill team adviser.”
Mrs. Ellis, affectionately referred to as the group’s “Mama,” went on to serve as the Tigerettes’ adviser for more than half of the group’s 50 years.
“She’d been a Tigerette when she was in school, so that’s why it meant so much to her,” her daughter, Wendy Ellis, said.
Mrs. Ellis’ passion for the group was evident throughout the community, and she dedicated her time to making the group more organized and honing the talents of her students. Mrs. Ellis established a team system consisting of 16 members, 14 alternates, and four auxiliary squads. During Ellis’s 30-year tenure, members of the Tigerettes were sent to dance camps. In the late 1970s and 1980s, when drill teams were peaking in popularity, the Tigerettes were invited to perform at various bowl games, including the Hula Bowl and numerous competitions.
“She really took (the Tigerettes) to a whole new level when she took over,” Zint said.
Since Mrs. Ellis’s retirement and passing, several women have taken the reins as adviser. Current adviser Tati (Cunningham) Weaks was one of the hundreds of students who knew and loved Mrs. Ellis, and she aspires to lead the team with the enthusiasm and talent shown by the Tigerettes’ beloved former leader.
“She was the glue of the whole thing,” Weaks said. “She was one of the most patient people and always helped people achieve their best.
“I think any girl who was ever a part of the Tigerettes would say that [Ellis] was one of the biggest reasons that made an impact on them or why they went out for the team. Even colleagues had good things to say about her.”
Awards, accomplishments
Through the years, Tigerettes have had numerous opportunities to travel and participate in competitions, parades and sporting events.
On October 31, 1961, the original Tigerettes participated in the University of Cincinnati’s seventh annual High School Band Day, performing in the halftime and post-game shows. They were also involved in the 1962 University of Cincinnati homecoming ceremony, including a performance in a parade that was televised on Cincinnati networks.
Members have been elected part of the All-American Drill Team, performing at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu. The McClain band and Tigerettes performed at a Canadian professional football game between Toronto and Hamilton in the 1980s, and they also performed Magic Music Days at Walt Disney World on several occasions. They also performed at Sea World in Orlando. Among their accolades are “best of show” trophies in drill team competitions and “excellent” ratings at dance camps.
From sashes to sequins:
The evolution of the uniforms
The Tigerettes’ uniforms have gone through a variety of changes since those original homemade ensembles, according to Wendy Ellis. The original design was used until 1968, when their new uniforms, which were also homemade, changed to purple jumpers over long-sleeved white blouses. The jumpers had a variety of designs on the chest over the years they were used, including a large “M,” an “MHS” design and a tiger emblem.
For a brief time in the 1970s, the Tigerettes wore half-purple, half-gold dresses, then switched to wearing purple and gold shrugs over white shirts with purple and gold skirts. In 1982, the Tigerettes’ uniforms were purple long-sleeved dresses with a gold sequined overlay. The sequined uniform is arguably the most popular design, with the dresses being used up through the mid-2000s.
“In the ‘80s, they had two or three uniforms they’d alternate between, depending on whether it was football or basketball season,” Wendy Ellis said.
Slight variations were made, particularly to the overlay, in the 1980s, according to Ellis. Among the changes was a switch to a white top with gold sequins and purple sleeves and skirts in the early 1990s, the design of which altered over the years. In the past few years, the Tigerettes have switched from a long-sleeved Lycra dress to a sleeveless Lycra dress.
Current adviser Tati (Cunningham) Weaks, a former Tigerette herself, said that squads like the Tigerettes are a “dying art” in the Midwest. Weaks said that last year, she tried to order new uniforms for the team and could only find ones in the South, which has a much different style.
“They were very country-and western,” Weaks said. “We had to get majorette uniforms and makeshift them into what we need.”
The homecoming tradition
A “sense of pride” and a love for the team and Greenfield tradition bring a number of Tigerette alumni back to McClain Field each fall for the homecoming halftime show. Along with the current squad, Tigerette alumni learn a routine for the halftime show and perform for the crowd. Many of Debbie Ellis’s former Tigerettes show a particular pride in “coming home” to dance again each year.
“It’s a sense of pride, to go back and still be able to do it,” Wendy Ellis said. “It kind of shows the Tigerettes now how things used to look, with the sharpness and snappiness.”
Wheaton said that aside from the years she spent away in the military and when she was ill or pregnant, she has tried to come back to dance. At the 2011 homecoming game, she said that Deanna (Dick) Hike and Wheaton were the two oldest Tigerette alumni performing. Hike, like Wheaton, has returned many times to perform for homecoming.
“It really is important to me,” Wheaton said. “Every year I go out there, I regret it and I’m embarrassed … but then when it’s over, I can’t wait for next year.”
However, not every Tigerette wishes to return annually for homecoming. Despite being one of the original Tigerettes, Zint said that she hasn’t kept up with the tradition of returning for homecoming, as the Tigerette routines have evolved quite a bit since her years on the squad.
“Needless to say, our routines were a lot less intricate as they are now,” Zint said. “I’ve had people ask me why I never participated in homecoming stuff over the years, and I thought, ‘They’re so good!’ They got really involved in their routines.”
The Tigerettes today
'Smile, sparkle and shake'
Fifty years after the Tigerettes’ inception, McClain High School offers a wide variety of athletic programs for girls, including basketball, cheerleading, cross-country, golf, marching band, soccer, softball, swimming, track and volleyball. At a time when drill teams are almost nonexistent in the Midwest, why have the Tigerettes continued to smile, sparkle and shake for half a century?
“It’s a sense of tradition at the school,” Wendy Ellis said. “People seem to really like watching them at the games. It’s something different, especially at football games.”
After Ellis’s retirement, a number of advisers, including her daughter, Wendy, and Wheaton, took over the group. The group, currently led by Weaks, has 16 regular dancers, eliminating the alternates, and the girls no longer try out to march on Friday nights.
“A couple of years before I [became Tigerette adviser], the advisers didn’t have a personal connection to the group,” current Tigerette adviser Weaks said. “They were teachers who hadn’t been involved, but cared enough to keep it going. I have a personal connection to the Tigerettes, so preserving some of the legacy and tradition of the group is what I bring to the table.”
One reason is for family tradition. Many past and present Tigerettes are the sisters or daughters of other Tigerettes, and they are inspired by their relatives’ example.
Deanna Hike, a three-year Tigerette and former captain, was part of the 25th Tigerette squad, and her daughter Marisa is a Tigerette squad captain during this anniversary year. As a dedicated former Tigerette who has participated in nearly every alumni routine at homecoming since her graduation, it is fitting that they have two generations of Tigerettes in the family.
“I decided to be a Tigerette because dancing is a big passion for me, and I love the sense of family,” Marisa told Mrs. Weaks.
Several current Tigerettes looked up to their older sisters’ examples when they decided to try out for the squad.
“I always wanted to be a Tigerette ever since I saw my sister doing it,” Sarah, a freshman, said.
“I decided to be a Tigerette because my sister was Tigerette captain for her junior and senior year, and she is one of my biggest role models,” another freshman, Natalie, said. “The Tigerettes always stuck out to me as a child, and I always wanted to be one. My sister always pushed me to work my hardest and be confident, and Tigerettes really helped me do that.”
While some may see the Tigerettes’ role as a rare drill team in the region as a liability, the group’s individuality stands out to the community as well as to other teams. Many Tigerettes see this as one of the reasons the squad remains popular today.
“The Tigerettes are probably one of the few drill teams left around,” Hike said. “When they go to parades, it’s mostly flag corps, color guards and that kind of thing.
“I think that does make them stand out, especially at the football games, because they are different.”
Former Clermont Northeastern High School student Mariah, who is currently a junior at MHS, was immediately attracted to the unique squad when she attended an MHS football game.
“I wanted to be a Tigerette after I saw my first Greenfield high school football game and saw the Tigerettes dance,” Mariah said. “When I moved here, it was the only thing I talked about.”
Wheaton said that while many schools’ dance teams eventually folded, she believes there is interest in starting them up again, citing Washington’s Lionettes team as an example. Throughout peak years for drill teams in the Midwest as well as years when interest seems to wane, the Tigerettes are part of a program that has never been cut and has always had at least some participation in its 50 years.
“The Tigerettes never stopped,” Wheaton said. “They tried to get rid of us, and they just keep kicking.”
This year’s squad, wrapping up the fall season, will soon be preparing for the basketball season under Weaks’ direction.
In honor of more than 400 Tigerettes who look back affectionately on their “sparkling” days, as well as the Greenfield community that has grown to view the team as a staple of fall sports, the Tigerettes are determined to “keep kicking.”[[In-content Ad]]
At some point over the past 50 years, they’ve each been a Tigerette.
As the 2011 fall sports season comes to a close, so, too, does another season for the Tigerettes, as the historic drill/dance team celebrates its golden anniversary.
Formation of the Tigerettes
In 1961, the MHS band was led by Joe Lancia, a “flamboyant man who wanted to make the band flamboyant,” according to Carol (Moomaw) Davis, an original Tigerette and the group’s first choreographer. Davis said that Lancia was encouraging and helped interested high school girls develop the idea for the team.
Another original Tigerette, Sue (Frizzell) Zint, said that she and two of her classmates helped initiate the movement toward a drill team when she was a freshman, during the academic year of 1960-61.
“Terry Jones, Ann Fulkerson and myself went to the principal and asked if we could start a drill team, and that’s how it started,” Zint said. “They backed our proposal, and we took off.”
Zint said that the idea for the Tigerettes originated because cheerleading was a very exclusive group, consisting of only about six to eight girls.
“There were a lot of girls who wanted to participate and weren’t in band, and of course this was before Title Nine – before girls’ sports – so it was just another activity for girls to participate in,” Zint said.
Davis described Lancia as a “forward thinker,” saying that he had to have been progressive to have the insight that girls would want to participate in a new group and that they would go on to become a huge part of McClain history.
“The classes were pretty small back then – I think that in my class, there may have been 60 or 70 kids – and there were 21 girls in the first group, which I think is really terrific for that small of a class,” Davis said. “That many girls wanted to get involved, and I think that speaks volumes for the band director’s insight.”
The Tigerettes evolved from the McClain High School marching band’s flag corps, adding pompoms and dance moves. The Tigerettes eventually took over the entertainment side of the marching band until the flag corps later returned as a separate entity.
Zint said that the first Tigerette uniforms consisted of white blouses that all the girls ordered out of a Sears catalog; handmade sashes “that looked like a Girl Scout sash” and purple velveteen skirts; tights; and of course, the group’s now-trademark white boots.
“The white boots never went away,” Zint said. “And, of course, we had pompoms.”
Davis added that the girls’ pompoms were not as easily obtained as one might think.
“My mother called long distance to OSU and the Lazarus department store and music stores in Columbus trying to find out where we could buy pompoms that were purple and gold,” Davis said. “We bought purple and gold crepe paper, and all the girls made their own pompoms. I have no idea where we were, but I can remember spending all afternoon cutting strips of crepe paper so we would have pompoms for the first football game.”
Davis served as choreographer for the first Tigerette squad. A drum majorette, Davis had a background in dance and had choreographed school musicals. Believing that Davis had the most experience, Lancia asked her to lead the group. The original team was less of a dance team as it is today, but the 21 members of the drill team still set out to dazzle McClain fans when they took the field.
“Boy, we thought we were something the first night we went out on the football field,” Davis said.
Becoming a Tigerette
As the Tigerette squad grew in popularity and the desire to join the squad increased, rules were established to regulate the tryout process.
McClain eighth-grade girls are “recruited” for the team a few weeks before the tryouts, which are promoted through posters and school announcements. Tryouts are held in March so the new squad can learn routines and participate in the Memorial Day parade in Greenfield.
Several days a week after school, Tigerette hopefuls are taught a choreographed routine, and they are grouped into squads of four during the day of the audition. In addition to being judged on their ability to perform the routine, prospective Tigerettes are asked to march to see if they can keep time. Senior Tigerettes, teachers, band directors and Tigerette alumni participate in the judging and selection process.
The following day after the auditions, the results are announced, and on the next day, upperclassmen are able to try out for one of four “officer” positions: captain, co-captain or one of the two squad leaders.
The role of the Tigerettes
The Tigerettes primarily perform throughout the football season alongside the MHS marching band during halftime and often participate in local parades. They also perform with CD accompaniment during halftime at some basketball games. Tigerettes practice four days a week, learning drills with the band and learning their own dance routines separately.
Most women agreed that the dance style has evolved over the years. In the beginning, the team was a drill team and was centered on coordinating with the band, employing a “militant” style.
In the March 1980 “McClain Highlights,” longtime Tigerette adviser and 1960s-era Tigerette Mrs. Debbie Ellis spoke of the team in the 1960s as being “concerned with the sharpness of our routine motions and our formations. Most of our routines were high-kick and simple jazz. We did do more military marching routines.”
Over time, the team evolved into more of a dance team, with the influence of Mrs. Ellis, and the routines’ dances have been altered over the years to fit what is in style.
Three-year Tigerette and former captain and adviser Amy (Priest) Wheaton said that a lot of the routines are roughly the same as they were 25 years ago when she was in school.
“The fight song has changed a little bit in translation, but it’s pretty much the same routine,” Wheaton said. “No one’s ever thought to change it.
“We were more militant and firm when we were there, now they’re a little more dance-y and go with current trends. We were more stiff-armed and weren’t allowed to get into it as much.”
The number of Tigerettes on the squad has varied. The squad has alternated between numbers of as many as 27 and as few as nine, but for the majority of years, there have been approximately 16 girls on the squad.
The Tigerettes’ motto, “smile, sparkle, shake,” started in the 1980s. Since then, the Tigerettes have participated in that cheer before they go out to perform, and alumni Tigerettes still like to include the cheer when they perform at homecoming.
“I think it’s important,” Wheaton said. “The band is there to sound good; I think we’re there to make it look good.”
“I wanted to be a Tigerette because I wanted to smile, sparkle, shake and wear the pretty boots,” current MHS freshman and first-year Tigerette Makayla said.
Debbie Ellis
When asked about the Tigerettes, nearly every Tigerette, young or old, immediately mentions one person as being essential to the longevity and success of the team: Debbie Ellis.
When the squad began, those who were interested and qualified were allowed to participate. However, after the adoption of Title IX in 1972, a variety of extracurricular programs were opened up for girls, and numbers started to fall. Debbie (Smith) Ellis, a graduate of McClain High School, was hired in the 1970s to teach math at school. Concerned about the number of Tigerettes, which had reached an all-time low, Mrs. Ellis, a 3-year veteran of the team, consulted the squad’s adviser. The Tigerettes’ adviser at the time, Mrs. Sharon Hiles, first allowed Mrs. Ellis to assist with choreographing a routine for homecoming. Upon seeing Ellis’ passion for the squad, Mrs. Hiles gave Ellis the position.
“Mrs. Hiles was nice enough to let me have the advisorship,” Mrs. Ellis said in a quote from a March 1980 interview in the “McClain Highlights.”
“Oftentimes teachers are asked to advise a group that they would rather not work with, [and] although our group has its ups and downs, I can honestly say that I am very pleased about being drill team adviser.”
Mrs. Ellis, affectionately referred to as the group’s “Mama,” went on to serve as the Tigerettes’ adviser for more than half of the group’s 50 years.
“She’d been a Tigerette when she was in school, so that’s why it meant so much to her,” her daughter, Wendy Ellis, said.
Mrs. Ellis’ passion for the group was evident throughout the community, and she dedicated her time to making the group more organized and honing the talents of her students. Mrs. Ellis established a team system consisting of 16 members, 14 alternates, and four auxiliary squads. During Ellis’s 30-year tenure, members of the Tigerettes were sent to dance camps. In the late 1970s and 1980s, when drill teams were peaking in popularity, the Tigerettes were invited to perform at various bowl games, including the Hula Bowl and numerous competitions.
“She really took (the Tigerettes) to a whole new level when she took over,” Zint said.
Since Mrs. Ellis’s retirement and passing, several women have taken the reins as adviser. Current adviser Tati (Cunningham) Weaks was one of the hundreds of students who knew and loved Mrs. Ellis, and she aspires to lead the team with the enthusiasm and talent shown by the Tigerettes’ beloved former leader.
“She was the glue of the whole thing,” Weaks said. “She was one of the most patient people and always helped people achieve their best.
“I think any girl who was ever a part of the Tigerettes would say that [Ellis] was one of the biggest reasons that made an impact on them or why they went out for the team. Even colleagues had good things to say about her.”
Awards, accomplishments
Through the years, Tigerettes have had numerous opportunities to travel and participate in competitions, parades and sporting events.
On October 31, 1961, the original Tigerettes participated in the University of Cincinnati’s seventh annual High School Band Day, performing in the halftime and post-game shows. They were also involved in the 1962 University of Cincinnati homecoming ceremony, including a performance in a parade that was televised on Cincinnati networks.
Members have been elected part of the All-American Drill Team, performing at the Hula Bowl in Honolulu. The McClain band and Tigerettes performed at a Canadian professional football game between Toronto and Hamilton in the 1980s, and they also performed Magic Music Days at Walt Disney World on several occasions. They also performed at Sea World in Orlando. Among their accolades are “best of show” trophies in drill team competitions and “excellent” ratings at dance camps.
From sashes to sequins:
The evolution of the uniforms
The Tigerettes’ uniforms have gone through a variety of changes since those original homemade ensembles, according to Wendy Ellis. The original design was used until 1968, when their new uniforms, which were also homemade, changed to purple jumpers over long-sleeved white blouses. The jumpers had a variety of designs on the chest over the years they were used, including a large “M,” an “MHS” design and a tiger emblem.
For a brief time in the 1970s, the Tigerettes wore half-purple, half-gold dresses, then switched to wearing purple and gold shrugs over white shirts with purple and gold skirts. In 1982, the Tigerettes’ uniforms were purple long-sleeved dresses with a gold sequined overlay. The sequined uniform is arguably the most popular design, with the dresses being used up through the mid-2000s.
“In the ‘80s, they had two or three uniforms they’d alternate between, depending on whether it was football or basketball season,” Wendy Ellis said.
Slight variations were made, particularly to the overlay, in the 1980s, according to Ellis. Among the changes was a switch to a white top with gold sequins and purple sleeves and skirts in the early 1990s, the design of which altered over the years. In the past few years, the Tigerettes have switched from a long-sleeved Lycra dress to a sleeveless Lycra dress.
Current adviser Tati (Cunningham) Weaks, a former Tigerette herself, said that squads like the Tigerettes are a “dying art” in the Midwest. Weaks said that last year, she tried to order new uniforms for the team and could only find ones in the South, which has a much different style.
“They were very country-and western,” Weaks said. “We had to get majorette uniforms and makeshift them into what we need.”
The homecoming tradition
A “sense of pride” and a love for the team and Greenfield tradition bring a number of Tigerette alumni back to McClain Field each fall for the homecoming halftime show. Along with the current squad, Tigerette alumni learn a routine for the halftime show and perform for the crowd. Many of Debbie Ellis’s former Tigerettes show a particular pride in “coming home” to dance again each year.
“It’s a sense of pride, to go back and still be able to do it,” Wendy Ellis said. “It kind of shows the Tigerettes now how things used to look, with the sharpness and snappiness.”
Wheaton said that aside from the years she spent away in the military and when she was ill or pregnant, she has tried to come back to dance. At the 2011 homecoming game, she said that Deanna (Dick) Hike and Wheaton were the two oldest Tigerette alumni performing. Hike, like Wheaton, has returned many times to perform for homecoming.
“It really is important to me,” Wheaton said. “Every year I go out there, I regret it and I’m embarrassed … but then when it’s over, I can’t wait for next year.”
However, not every Tigerette wishes to return annually for homecoming. Despite being one of the original Tigerettes, Zint said that she hasn’t kept up with the tradition of returning for homecoming, as the Tigerette routines have evolved quite a bit since her years on the squad.
“Needless to say, our routines were a lot less intricate as they are now,” Zint said. “I’ve had people ask me why I never participated in homecoming stuff over the years, and I thought, ‘They’re so good!’ They got really involved in their routines.”
The Tigerettes today
'Smile, sparkle and shake'
Fifty years after the Tigerettes’ inception, McClain High School offers a wide variety of athletic programs for girls, including basketball, cheerleading, cross-country, golf, marching band, soccer, softball, swimming, track and volleyball. At a time when drill teams are almost nonexistent in the Midwest, why have the Tigerettes continued to smile, sparkle and shake for half a century?
“It’s a sense of tradition at the school,” Wendy Ellis said. “People seem to really like watching them at the games. It’s something different, especially at football games.”
After Ellis’s retirement, a number of advisers, including her daughter, Wendy, and Wheaton, took over the group. The group, currently led by Weaks, has 16 regular dancers, eliminating the alternates, and the girls no longer try out to march on Friday nights.
“A couple of years before I [became Tigerette adviser], the advisers didn’t have a personal connection to the group,” current Tigerette adviser Weaks said. “They were teachers who hadn’t been involved, but cared enough to keep it going. I have a personal connection to the Tigerettes, so preserving some of the legacy and tradition of the group is what I bring to the table.”
One reason is for family tradition. Many past and present Tigerettes are the sisters or daughters of other Tigerettes, and they are inspired by their relatives’ example.
Deanna Hike, a three-year Tigerette and former captain, was part of the 25th Tigerette squad, and her daughter Marisa is a Tigerette squad captain during this anniversary year. As a dedicated former Tigerette who has participated in nearly every alumni routine at homecoming since her graduation, it is fitting that they have two generations of Tigerettes in the family.
“I decided to be a Tigerette because dancing is a big passion for me, and I love the sense of family,” Marisa told Mrs. Weaks.
Several current Tigerettes looked up to their older sisters’ examples when they decided to try out for the squad.
“I always wanted to be a Tigerette ever since I saw my sister doing it,” Sarah, a freshman, said.
“I decided to be a Tigerette because my sister was Tigerette captain for her junior and senior year, and she is one of my biggest role models,” another freshman, Natalie, said. “The Tigerettes always stuck out to me as a child, and I always wanted to be one. My sister always pushed me to work my hardest and be confident, and Tigerettes really helped me do that.”
While some may see the Tigerettes’ role as a rare drill team in the region as a liability, the group’s individuality stands out to the community as well as to other teams. Many Tigerettes see this as one of the reasons the squad remains popular today.
“The Tigerettes are probably one of the few drill teams left around,” Hike said. “When they go to parades, it’s mostly flag corps, color guards and that kind of thing.
“I think that does make them stand out, especially at the football games, because they are different.”
Former Clermont Northeastern High School student Mariah, who is currently a junior at MHS, was immediately attracted to the unique squad when she attended an MHS football game.
“I wanted to be a Tigerette after I saw my first Greenfield high school football game and saw the Tigerettes dance,” Mariah said. “When I moved here, it was the only thing I talked about.”
Wheaton said that while many schools’ dance teams eventually folded, she believes there is interest in starting them up again, citing Washington’s Lionettes team as an example. Throughout peak years for drill teams in the Midwest as well as years when interest seems to wane, the Tigerettes are part of a program that has never been cut and has always had at least some participation in its 50 years.
“The Tigerettes never stopped,” Wheaton said. “They tried to get rid of us, and they just keep kicking.”
This year’s squad, wrapping up the fall season, will soon be preparing for the basketball season under Weaks’ direction.
In honor of more than 400 Tigerettes who look back affectionately on their “sparkling” days, as well as the Greenfield community that has grown to view the team as a staple of fall sports, the Tigerettes are determined to “keep kicking.”[[In-content Ad]]