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The Meet and Greet Reception: The 2015 Homecoming weekend was one to remember! The festivities kicked off on Saturday afternoon at a "Meet and Greet" reception in the Players cafeteria at Redskins Park. The Redskins staff and the First Ladies of Football were spectacular hosts as we enjoyed wine and cheese and light snacks sponsored by The Gryphon, of Washington, D.C., and Parellel Wine Bistro, of Ashburn, VA. All decades were represented and shared their favorite memories and wisdom with the current cheerleaders. The tables were beautifully decorated with burgundy and gold flowers and took us down memory lane with framed pictures from each decade. Burgundy & Gold sisters were reunited and new friends were made! After our reception, we headed over to the team's indoor practice facility known as "The Bubble" to see the First Ladies perform. They were spectacular and left no doubt in our mine's that they are STILL the best in the NFL. We ended the day with a group picture and walked away proud to be a part of such a great organization "The Sisterhood of the Burgundy and Gold".
The Homecoming Parade: The next day, 15 of us braved the morning misty weather (bad hair day...ugh) and had fun marching in the parade behind the beautiful and talented Redskins Cheerleaders. We were planning to just walk behind them and wave to the crowd, but couldn't resist when they started doing synchronized pom routines and THEN the band played that song, you know, HTTR! Well, what would you do...just stand there....not going to happen with this group...our instincts took over from there and we all got an extra boost of energy and well, the rest is history as we did the HAIL routine about 5 times as we completed our journey around the stadium!! We had So much fun but we were pretty tired from all the excitement and extra exercise that we weren't expecting, but still appreciated...ha!! And more exercise was yet to come.... The Pregame Ceremony: Next up was participating in the pregame ceremony with the Redskins Alumni, Redskins Cheerleaders, and the Redskins Band. Before we hit the field, Stephanie invited us into the cheerleader's locker room to take part in their prayer circle, which has been a big tradition of the Redskins Cheerleaders for years. It was so touching and very special as we went around the circle and everyone said what they were most thankful for. We ended it with the Lord's Prayer and a cheerleader chant as we circled Stephanie and put our hands together in the air and yelled "Family!!!" Then it was time to hit the field. As we lined up we had the pleasure (or maybe I should say...they had the pleasure) of seeing the opposing team (The Bucs) walk in front of us as they headed back to their locker room from the field. Geez those guys are HUGE!!! Sorry...I got sidetracked with that flashback..haha! Anyhow, Stephanie informed us that we would be performing the HAIL routine on the field with the cheerleaders and the Band once we got lined up across from the 100 plus Redskins Alumni. We pulled it off without a hitch..I think! After that we fluffed our poms in synchronized fashion (fluff up and fluff down...repeat, repeat, repeat) with the cheerleaders as they introduced ALLLLLL the alumni and the current players. Needless to say...our arms got a great workout...ha! After the pregame, most of us went to our seats and cheered the Redskins on to the biggest comeback in franchise history! I certainly believe it was us that brought them all that LUCK in the second half!!! Maybe they will ask us back for all the games now...haha! Seriously, on behalf of all the Redskins Cheerleaders Alumni, I would like to thank The Redskins organization...especially Stephanie Jojokian, Jamilla Keene, and the rest of the WRC staff for making this possible. We look forward to doing it again next year!!! CHEERS!!!! Dearest WRCAA ladies, We had a BLAST at the first two monthly Wine Down Wednesday events in January and February! We are happy that we have a standing monthly event to attend that will be hosted in various locales in the DC Metro area. We are planning a few Wine Down Fridays over the Summer/Fall as well, so don't worry if you can't make Wednesdays work for now. Our goal is to have as many of us connect throughout the year at these networking events. We are also planning two fun springtime events, a Kidville party for the tots and a Spa Day for us ladies! Our "inaugural" event in Washington, D.C., at the trendy wine bar Vinoteca kicked things off with a bang....literally. Despite a pretty rough thunderstorm, we had about 10 ladies spanning 4 decades of Washington Redskins Cheerleaders in attendance. We caught up over delicious wines and appetizers and discussed the upcoming Super Bowl weekend with high hopes for our own 'Skins next year! The second event took place this past Wednesday evening at popular wine spot Grapeseed in Bethesda, MD., and brought out some new faces to this event. One alumni member mentioned she rarely got to attend events because they are never in Bethesda and she was thrilled to hear about this one! We toasted our years on the sidelines and swapped stories of our "cheer" days. It's always great to catch up with old friends and connect with new ones, especially when we share such a fun common thread...of pom poms that is! ;) We hope to see you at the next Wine Down event tentatively scheduled for March 27th in Virginia. Details to come... Cheers! WRCAA Social Committee Carin, Melody, Denyse, Chastity, and Tequia Our dear Doris Snyder (62--66), first Director of the Redskinettes, passed away on December 18, 2012. Doris was selected to be the first Director of the Redskinettes by Joel Margolis, Producer of the Redskins show staff in 1962. Prior to her tenure with the Redskins, Doris served as the head majorette/choreographer of the Baltimore Colts show staff from 1947 to 1962. Upon acceptance of her new position, Doris made the first of many important decisions, which would shape the future of the Redskinettes...the appointment of the first Assistant Directors, Ann Bittenbender and Mary Lu Bucci. Contacts were made throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area as potential candidates for the Redskinettes squad. By April 1962, all candidates had been auditioned and selected, and after endless hours of rehearsals conducted by Snyder, Bittenbender, and Bucci, the Redskinettes were ready to say "HAIL Lo" to the Washington fans. The original Redskinettes uniform was commissioned by Doris, who worked closely with a New York firm that submitted the winning design. Doris spent many long hours and made numerous trips to New York City to oversee this work...even to the extent of examining the beading that was done by hand on each costume...to assure that the work proceeded on schedule. After many fittings and re-fittings the uniforms were ready for the grand entrance on September 30, 1962. And so it began, and continues today, the announcement that has become the hallmark of every home pre-game show: "Ladies and gentlemen...Presenting the world famous Redskins Marching Band and the equally famous Redskinettes!" or as they are now known The First Ladies of Football! |
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November 2015
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