It was joyful. That’s the only word to describe the 50th reunion of the Ballard Eagles 172 Drill Team. Girls in party dresses were flocking between tables like a type of exotic bird that comes in all sizes. Women were recognizing each other from childhood and then linking arms into group hugs.

I didn’t grow up around drill teams; my introductions to them were through Syttende Mai or the Torchlight Parade in downtown Seattle. Their uniforms often looked dated and it tugged my heart strings to see so many girls at the gawky stages that occur when some limbs have growth spurts and others don’t. The girls always looked so serious in drill formation, boots hitting the pavement of 24th NW in perfect unison.

It turns out that what I didn’t know about drill teams could fill a bookshelf; what I didn’t know about the history of the Ballard Eagles Drill Team founded in 1961 by Ann Thompson could fill volumes. I had no idea that drill teams became another family for girls, especially for those willing to admit they were on a “bad path” until the discipline of the Eagles. I didn’t know that being part of a drill team still can be a lifelong commitment, with girls progressing to Captain, young women becoming Instructors and Drill Mistresses. I didn’t know about the mission statement, the community service, the military inspection judging—the sisterhood.

In honor of the 50th anniversary several women still connected to the Ballard Eagles Drill Team planned a reunion and tribute to founder Ann Thompson, now 93 years old and in poor health. They drove from eastern Washington and flew in from California and Nevada reuniting, fifty years of past and current drill team members on the second floor of Ballard Beach Club on Saturday, November 19th.

I had never considered drill teams in their historical context; before Title IX was passed into the law as we know it (1972) there were far fewer opportunities for girls to play sports in school. No ubiquitous soccer clubs. Not every girl wanted to be a cheerleader. Into this void came a tradition better known in the South and Midwest—the drill team. Ann Thompson started the Ballard Eagles 172 Drill Team based on the core principles of the national group: to promote good character, leadership, healthy lifestyles, sportsmanship and empowerment.

Katie McQuillan and Diane Larson, two of the reunion organizers echoed a common theme, “I am the person I am today because of Ballard Eagles and Ann Thompson.” A hard copy program for the reunion included timeline and team photos from each decade plus pages of shared memories. The event itself was a perpetual mix of aqua and black (team colors), hugs, tears and the flash of cameras trying to capture the magic of being together again.

Everyone wanted to share their story with me. Over and over I heard from women who said of their experience with the team, “It became your family.” In some cases it involved the whole family.

Regina Jones King was an early member and became Drill Mistress in 1976. She and her three sisters were all members of the team; her father drove the bus, her mother sewed the costumes and her brother accompanied the team to parades. “It’s a sisterhood,” she declared.

For actual sisters Holly and Annie Erker, the Ballard Eagles Drill Team was a constant even after they moved with their mother to Poulsbo after just months with the team. For nearly a decade they took a series of buses and the ferry at least twice a week, even more times during parade season, even though they were just 10 and 12 in the beginning. Annie Erker would practice drills on the upper car deck on the way home. Her desire “to be the best” led to her making Captain before her older sister.

“Painful,” her sister Holly still says, but during her later reign as Captain the team had a series of particularly glorious years in competitions. Holly Erker Merhab marched in parades on her 16th, 18th and 21st birthdays, and on her wedding day. She recalled having the father of a girl competing on a rival team thank her for being a role model. “It was humbling. There is nothing that I’ve done since that has been more fulfilling or profound.”

The Ballard Eagles have always had to work to secure practice space, cover travel costs and provide scholarships so that any girl can participate. Now they also have to compete with so many other opportunities available to girls ages 8-18.

“It was so much cooler than being a cheerleader,” Laurie Philips Bell said of the early years. She’s one of three members who were as inseparable at the reunion as they probably were in the 1970’s. They met at Whitman Jr. High but their commitment to “drill” didn’t waiver as they attended Franklin, Cleveland and Ballard High Schools separately.

Denice Scott Datol said, “They were our best years and we’re all still friends.”

“I was the first Black member of the team,” Lora Tennell Dear volunteered.

“African-American,” her friend Laurie Philips Bell corrected.

“I prefer Black,” Dear corrected in turn.

This was a reunion that was going to continue for hours, with speeches and a slideshow, photographs of each team and the appearance of Ann Thompson herself. This was a reunion that was going to connect past and present, with lasting effects. I heard later there was a standing ovation for Ann Thompson’s arrival and departure, not enough Kleenex and a spontaneous team song, “We Are the Ballard Girls.”

Katie McQuillan said of her near lifetime involvement with Ballard Eagles, “I’ve never known of another activity that stays on in your life like this one.” She also told me that for fifty years the pre-parade tradition hasn’t changed. The team gathers in their circle, repeats their mission and then sings the Peter, Paul & Mary song that likewise sums up the event and the history of the team, “The Song is Love.”

Peggy Sturdivant is co-author of Out of Nowhere. She can be reached atlargeinballard@yahoo.com