If you are not a facebook fan of WGI's then you might be missing out on some great deals!  Fan or not, every day for the next 11 (it started yesterday), WGI is offering a special deal on WGI merchandise for the holiday season.  Today (Wednesday Dec. 2) they're offering the 2007 Independent World Class DVD for only $10.00 .  That's a good deal if you're hoping to add to your guard-movie collection this year!  If you fan their facebook page the deals will be sent directly to your homepage newsfeed.  Or - you can just remember to check their website (www.wgi.org ) each morning to see what's new for the day.  Either way!  You might not want to miss some of these deals!  And... if you know some of your guard parents are searching for great gifts send them the links too!  They're sure to appreciate the savings!

'Tis the season when parents everywhere are searching and scrambling for the latest and greatest to surprise their children under the tree.  YOU can help ease some of that stress!

Every year I was coaching full-time I would get a few emails from parents asking where we bought our rifles or what size flags we used because they wanted to buy one for their child as a Christmas present.  A few years ago I decided to put together a general email with all this information early in the holiday season and send it to my parents-only email list!

The result?  A lot of happy parents who were grateful I went the extra mile to try to help even when not asked.  Even those who weren't going to buy guard-related gifts appreciated the gesture. 

Last spring we were lucky enough to meet Anna Jakubowski through our CGE community.  Anna was working on a documentary which chronicled a full season with the Pacificaires , a winter guard from British Columbia, Canada.  In a wonderful twist of fate, the Pacificaires ended this special season as WGI finalists as well!

She took some time away from her documentary to produce a Q&A video with the directors of the Pacificaires which we posted here on CGE last March (check it out if you missed it the first time! Q&A: An Interview with Alan and Florence Dyck of the Pacificaires ).

This week she contacted us again to let us know that "Live to Spin" is now completed and ready for purchase just in time for both the holidays and the winter seasons.  We haven't had a chance to see it ourselves... so we can't post any review or recommendations yet.  But we did want to let you know it's out there in case you want to check it out for yourself.  You can always come back to this article in the future and leave your own reviews as comments.  She also indicated that she's offering the DVD as a fundraising opportunity for guards as well - so if that's something that might interest your unit - check out her website at Live to Spin !

For those of you who are new to the site, chances are you haven't found time to discover all the tidbits buried within the three years of sharing that exists here.  If you check out the menu at the top of the page there are several "drop down" menus that reveal even more layers of information!  One of these references is our Glossary of Color Guard Terms .  Linked under the "Resources" tab, this page was started right at the very beginning of CGE.  Problem was... there were many terms listed WITHOUT definitions.  That's why I'm VERY excited today that our new writer Chelley Thelen finished up the list for us! 

Now, when I say "finished" I really am just saying that she finished what is already there.  I know we can come up with great photos to compliment some of the terms AND that there are plenty of terms we have likely left out.  SO - that's where you, our readers, come in!  If you have a term to add or think a definition could use revision, PLEASE feel free to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ! That's what this site is all about!  CG educators working together as a community to creating an amazing resource to share with each other.  So, don't be shy!  SHARE!  I know that this list has been used not only as a reference for coaches - but as a reference for students writing papers or preparing speeches for their high school classes.  And I'm thankful to Chelley today for helping this reference take a BIG step forward!