The Watauga Valley Fife and Drum Corps of Elizabethon will kick-off the Chattanooga Armed Forces Day Parade at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Observers should line the parade route on Market Street, from MLK Boulevard to 4th Street.
The Watauga Valley Fife and Drum Corps was designated in 2014 as the Official Fife and Drum Corps of Tennessee. The corps members painstakingly recreate the martial music of the 18th century that served as the soundtrack of the American Revolution. Their accurate impression and storytelling about the children who served as soldiers have taken them across the east coast trails of numerous state and national parks and historic sites. Visitors to Sycamore Shoals historic site, their home base, are often mesmerized by their performances.
Brothers Ivan Daniels and Cohen Daniels serve the Corps as drum captain and fife captain, respectively. They have participated with Watauga Valley Fife and Drum Corps since the age of eight years-old and consider their musical interpretation to be an honor as they represent the young boys who provided the communications efforts of the Continental Army.
Both Ivan and Cohen serve the Tennessee Society Children of the American Revolution as officers and are proud descendants of Revolutionary War Patriots, including the famed Mary Patton, provider of over 500 pounds of gunpowder to the Overmountain Men for the Battle of Kings Mountain.