Labor day celebrations include Corps of Cadets

The Norwich University Corps of Cadets marched through the town of Northfield, Vt., in a new way during the annual Labor Day Parade.

The Corps of Cadets marched differently than last year by moving its marching format to that of the Army Field Manual.

This year's organization, changing from a six-line format to a four-line format, put the parade to Army standards, according to Norwich University's regimental commander. 

"We weren't going exactly by the Army Field Manual and this year we were, so it was by the book, and exactly how the army says you're supposed to do formation in a parade," said Alison Lanz, a 21-year-old senior criminal justice major from East Greenbush, N.Y. Lanz is the 2009-2010 regimental commander of the Corps of Cadets.

According to Lanz, the decision to change the parade's format was that of the commandants, Drill Sergeant Captain Diaz and herself.

Lanz said that a standard operating procedure was needed because it is time for the corps to have a standard and something to reference.

The parade was slightly larger than last year because there are "more cadets this year, and the freshmen weren't with the upper classmen," said Jordan Lewis, sergeant first class, a 21-year-old junior communications major from Covington, La.

"I turned around at the bottom of Jackman Hill and looked up and there were still people up on the Upper Parade Ground, so it was much longer," Lanz said.

"Last year was six-man front (six lines), but it was a lot longer this year especially for the amount of people," said Corp. Joe Perez, a 19-year-old sophomore communications major and English and criminal justice minor from Manahawkin, N.J. Another big difference in structure is that "all the freshmen are in one battalion."

"In previous years, freshmen were in with their companies with upperclassmen from tallest to smallest, so you couldn't really pick out who was a freshmen and who was not, by just a glance," Lewis said.

Because of the parade's new format, there was a "learning curve," and it took a lot more rehearsing because "not everybody knew what they were doing like in last year where everyone knew," Lanz said.

The parade ran smoothly except for when the parade ground was divided up and "they told us to go one way and told the other people to go another way, and we met up somehow at President Schneider's house," Perez said.

Lewis, who was a road guard for this year's parade, said that "the parade looked good," although there were some rough spots

"It is our time to shine for the town of Northfield," Lanz said.

"It means a lot to the state of Vermont and it means a lot to our school. And something that I take pride in and a lot of the leaders take pride in is not to be flashy and show that we're out in the community and we care," Perez said.

Since the people of Northfield don't usually come up to the Upper Parade Ground to watch the Corps march, "this is one of the only times of the year the people of Northfield get to see us march as a Corps of Cadets," Lewis said.

According to Perez, next year the parade should be similar because the whole "freshmen battalion" idea will stand and "you should be looking at a pretty similar image for next year."