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The story behind this website (by Dan Kinney '69):

The class of '69 celebrated our 30th high school reunion in October of 1999. It was a great weekend as Bob Colby came in from Atlanta with his wife and Jim Allen came in from Pittsburg with his wife. All the locals Bob Andrews, Tom Cottrone, Bill Correnti, Dave Rigby and myself all attended the reunion as well. On Sunday Bill Correnti had us all to his house for a brunch including Dennis Kaufman ('66). Bob Colby surprised us with a VHS video he had produced with all the scrapbooks and old 8mm movies our parents took of us when we were in color guard. Lord knows how much time and effort he spent doing this, but it was incredible. It brought back so many good memories. It opened my eyes and I said we will have to stay in touch. Well we didn't.

A few years passed and very suddenly in 2003 Wayne Rabideau's ('69) younger brother Tom (Rhino) Rabideau died at the very young age of 49. It suddenly dawned on me that we were all getting older and you just never know what tomorrow will bring. It also dawned on me that I had not kept my promise too stay in touch with the guys. Yes some had moved away, but some were right here in Rochester. Yes I had failed to pick up the phone to stay in touch, but so did they (shame on all of us).

Being the organizer that I am I decided it was time to do something about it. I said; "Gee let's have a reunion". I soon realized that was a bigger task then I could handle. So I decided to ease into it. I contacted all the former Aquinas Color Guard member who still lived locally that I knew how to contact and organized a happy hour. The first happy hour happened in 2005. Since then we have been meeting for a happy hour about every six months. The group being myself, Tom Cottrone, Bob Andrews, Phil Knight, Bill Correnti and Rob Schrader.

My intent was to get other former AQ Color Guard members included who also were still local from other years. John Palermo ('67) joined the group as did Mike Maiuri ('65). Mike was brave and joined Bill Correnti and myself and we marched at Alumni Weekend in 2006. It was fun, but one year and done as Bill Correnti has since moved to Willmington, NC. Bill Correnti brought his copy of the Video to show the current band and color guard when we march at Alumini weekend; it was a huge hit. They thoroughly enjoyed it and were very impressed by our style back then.

Being a technology geek I contacted Bob Colby and asked him if he could convert the Video to DVD. VHS was old technology; time to bring it current. It took him a while, but he did it.

In 2007 the class of '67 was celebrating their 40th reunion. John Palermo contacted the guys from his class and had a little reunion party at his house the weekend of Alumni Weekend. I was invited and got to reconnect with Mike Christman, Don Brookins, Kevin Brinkman, Tom Brady and Dave Behr ('66). I brought the DVD along to show the guys and they too were very impressed. I had copies for everybody and they all cherished them.

The DVD was and is my most prized possession, but I said if we all enjoyed it so much I'm sure others from that era would as well. And what better way to reconnect not only with former AQ Color Guard members, but with members from other guards that we competed against. Wouldn't it be great to have one great big reunion with everyone.

So in 2007 having lost my job and with time on my hands I decided to create this website and put as much memorabilia on it from our AQ Color Guard days to keep those memories alive. Yes I converted the DVD to streaming video for everyone to enjoy. I also invited former AQ Band members to contribute any memorabilia that they would like to share. And if there are any Color Guard people from our era that find us and would like to share a story or two or memorabilia; we would love to hear from them.

Moving forward a few years in late 2007 I moved away from Rochester and now live in Durham, NC. I had to go where I could find employment. I still get home to Rochester about 4 or 5 times a year and always schedule a happy hour at the Distillery on West Ridge Rd. The numbers have grown to include some of the guys from the 71 & 72 guards. I still have not been successful in recruiting any Band members to join us, but I never give up hope.

So please let's keep those memories alive; take a couple of minutes and sign the guest book or send me an e-mail. I will add you to my growing list and maybe soon we can have a real big reunion.

My heart bleeds Maroon & White.