Hall of Fame 2013: Dale Powers

Hall of Fame 2013: Dale Powers

The first high school color guard he worked with in West Bridgewater, MA made history by being the first WGI “A” Class champion, he founded one of the most groundbreaking color guards of their time, Emerald Marquis, and he helped solidify the entire WGI regional and championships competitions, he is none other than Dale Powers.

On Wednesday, April 10, Dale Powers will be officially inducted into the WGI Hall of Fame at the 2013 WGI Championships in Dayton, OH along with Ed Devlin and Fred Feeney.

Dale began his color guard career in 1978 where he taught himself how to spin and learned how to stage color guard productions by watching some of the early WGI greats such as St. Anthony’s Imperials, St. Joseph Medford, St. Patricks Stoneham, and Quasar.

After Dale’s first high school he directed in West Bridgewater disbanded he founded the Emerald Marquis who rapidly became one of WGI’s top groups. They began their reputation in 1982 when the winter guard came in 7th place at WGI Championships in Nashville, Tennessee and quickly rose to the top year after year.

“Emerald Marquis became an extremely entertaining unit and was always in the mix to place very well in the Independent World Class,” said former WGI Executive Director Lynn Lindstrom.

In 1991, Emerald Marquis received their first silver medal at WGI and after 14 years the Wakefield, MA guard finally received the gold medal in 1999 with their performance “The Great Divide.” Their last year of existence came in 2001. Emerald Marquis left the circuit having placed in the top three at WGI championships ten times in their 20 years of existence.

“Dale’s accomplishments and successes with Emerald Marquis are well documented and historically significant to the WGI organization,” said Blessed Sacrament director Ed Devlin. “His unwavering commitment to the Emerald Marquis organization was instrumental in the high level of success the guard achieved throughout their years of competing in WGI.”

During his time with the Emerald Marquis, Dale also worked and designed for other successful units such as Brook Park Rangerettes, The Rochester Patriots, and Thurrock Academy. Dale stayed with the winter guard until the very end and left behind the legacy that is the Emerald Marquis for their risk taking and on-edge productions that changed the color guard activity.

After folding Emerald Marquis, Dale assumed the role of Color Guard Coordinator at WGI, which he has held for 10 years. Under this position Dale has helped re-develop the regional competitions by introducing power regionals and creating semi-finals. He is one of the major reasons why WGI holds events in big arenas to make the competitions feel special and impactful for all performers.

“For every color guard that competes at a WGI regional and World Class Championship, Dale has a mission, and that is to ensure that every color guard member can walk away from a WGI event knowing it was the best competition experience ever,” said Denise Bonfiglio, Santa Clara Vanguard Winter Guard Director.

Dale Powers has been apart of WGI for 32 years, his dedication to the activity has brought great changes and ideas that benefit all participating WGI winter guards. He has served on the board of directors for 22 years and the executive board for 10 years. Aside from color guard he has also judged percussion groups at WGI.

Program designer Jonathon Vanderkoff said “I believe wholeheartedly that Dale belongs in the WGI hall of fame. His lifelong commitment to the activity and unrelenting work ethic to make this a great experience for so many kids, staffs and units should be recognized by all of us.”

Dale now works full time at New York Life as a Director in the Compliance Department. He enjoys traveling and has acquired golf as his new hobby. He currently lives in Rockland, MA with his wife Elizabeth and their son Nicholas.