DUBUQUETTES

DUBUQUETTES. An all-girl precision drill team, the Dubuquettes were sponsored by Ship 67 NAVY CLUB (THE), the only Navy Club in the nation to sponsor such a youth organization. The team, supported by Donna GINTER and her husband Joe, started as a baton twirling group under their leadership in 1963. The team did not have a booster club until 1969.

In 1969 the Dubuquettes marched more than 1,500 miles in parades and competition in the Midwest. The group won third place in state-wide Veterans of Foreign War drill team competition in Waterloo and first place in their division at the Rockford, Illinois July 4th parade. They placed second in the Oktoberfest parade at LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The team was composed of 58 girls from 12 to 16 years of age. A color guard was planned in 1970. (1)

In January, 1970 the Dubuquettes won first place in St. Pat's Imperial Show held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This led to challenge from the national champions in drill team competition, the Silhouettes of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Silhouettes had previously won first place in the St. Pat's Show. (No record was found of the result.) The planned-for color guard was displayed in Arlington Heights, Illinois in March, 1970. (2)

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Source:

1. "Salute from the Duquettes," Telegraph-Herald, October 21, 1969, p. 8