‘A staple in KC’: After 54 years, beloved Marching Cobras drill team is no more
After more than half a century engaging youth on Kansas City’s historic East Side, the beloved drill team KC Marching Cobras is disbanding.
Its founder, Willie Arthur Smith, hung up his maroon drillmaster’s top hat late last week and ended the group after 54 successful years.
“I felt that the time was right,” Smith said in a press release Monday. “I have been thinking about retiring and dissolving for a few years but after much prayer and consideration it’s time to move on and enjoy the best years of my life that are yet to come.”
He estimated that over 10,000 young people participated in the team during its 54-year life span. According to the group’s website, they performed for at least three U.S. presidents and in 45 states as well as internationally.
“After so many years of putting work in, it’s time to retire. He just made the decision based off what he felt was best for him,” Smith’s granddaughter Meshae Johnson told The Star. “(The team) was his legacy, so once he retires, he just retires the legacy with him.”
Fans and former members of the Marching Cobras took to social media Thursday to lament the news, recalling happy memories of parades, performances and friendships they found through the group.
“The KC Marching Cobras has been a staple in KC for as long as I can remember,” one fan wrote on Facebook. “Everybody and they Momma was doing their high knee march.”
Others quoted Smith’s favorite sayings, like “a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.”
Johnson added that online rumors about Smith ending the team due to personal health issues are unfounded.
“He’s fine, he’s healthy. Nothing is wrong with him,” she said. “He’s at home, he’s resting.”
Smith founded the Marching Cobras in 1969 while working as a social studies teacher at Lincoln Junior High School — now Lincoln College Preparatory Academy Middle School — just blocks from Kansas City’s historic 18th & Vine district.
After choreographing a dance performance that won the school’s talent show, Smith created an extracurricular dance group that grew in popularity over the following years. It quickly expanded to become a drill team with elements like drumming, tumbling, pom poms and marching.
The Star’s Lisa Gutierrez contributed.
Do you have more questions about performance groups in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
