Tryouts for the 2009-2010 Buccadears were held on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, and the following members were selected:  Abbey Johnson, Aisha White, Autumn Scott, Charmaine Comeaux, Chelsea Vayon, Ciara Starcke, Emily McKnight, Emily Neuman, Janae’ Alleman, Jasta Alicie, Jordan Horger, Kaci Bull, Lesley Valastro, Mattie Edwards, Nichole Mayeux, Paige Miller, Patricia Paniagua, Sadie Long, Shelby Franzen, and Taylor Thurman.

The Buccadears traveled to Dallas to perform in the Comerica Bank New Year's Parade, as well as halftime at the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Comerica Bank New Year's Parade is one of the largest holiday celebrations in the Great Southwest. Held annually in conjunction with the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the event attracts tens of thousands of spectators to downtown Dallas.

In addition to the university bands, parade entries included high school bands and drill teams from across the country, more than 25 floats, the world-famous Kilgore College Rangerettes, and specialty units and equestrians.

The AT&T Cotton Bowl and Samsung Communications joined efforts to produce the  halftime show at the Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State bowl competition. The university  bands, the Rangerettes, as well as a finale that included high school marching units and drill teams were showcased during the halftime with over 100,000 spectators watching.
 

Officers that attended camp included Shelby Franzen, Lesley Valastro, Chelsea Vayon, Kaci Bull, Paige Miller,  Mattie Edwards, and Abbey Johnson as seen in the photo.

The East Chambers Buccadear drill team just completed a busy, but successful camp, band and football performance season and now is “super busy” planning participation in many exciting upcoming events. The Buccadears just recently served as Santa’s Helpers at the annual community Christmas in the Park. Following that, after several weeks of practice, the team will travel north to Dallas during the Christmas holidays to participate in the Cotton Bowl Parade and Cotton Bowl football game which will be held at the new Dallas Cowboy stadium in Arlington on January 2. The parade, pre-game and halftime performances are scheduled to be televised and will feature the Buccadears as well as other drill team members from across America.

Upon return to school in January, the drill team will host their annual clinic on Saturday, January 9, which is open to ages PreK through 8th grade. At the clinic, the participants will learn a dance routine that will be performed at the annual Follies. More information and registration form for the clinic are available at this link or you may call 296-8180 during school hours.

The annual Follies, which will be held on Monday, January 18, will feature dance and a variety of entertainment. The event will be staged at 7:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Tickets are now on sale for $5.00 and can be purchased from any drill team member. The theme this year is KICKER 201.0 and will take everyone on a trip down memory lane listening to their favorite radio hits.

The community should be extremely proud of this hard working group of young ladies. While at Danceline summer camp this past summer, they received all blue ribbons, the highest possible score and a Super Sweepstakes trophy was earned by both social and line officers. They were also recognized for having the Best Interview. Several of the members earned the distinction of making the Elite Dance Team and will be traveling to perform at San Antonio Sea World and Walt Disney World in Orlando. Elite members are Chelsea Vayon, Kaci Bull, Shelby Franzen, Lesley Valastro, Abbey Johnson, Mattie Edwards, Sadie Long, Jasta Alicie, Janae Alleman, Jordan Horger, Taylor Thurman, Emily McKnight, and Emily Neuman.