Among the sea of blue, were residents from the Peabody retirement community. The Peabody staff brought about 30 residents to meet the players and cheerleaders and enjoy the perfect sunny weather.
"We have a lot of Colts fans at Peabody and it was a great opportunity just across the street so we brought everybody out," Sharon, a Peabody employee, said. "I think the town of North Manchester in general is definitely a Colts town."
According to the staff there is one resident whose fanhood seems to trump the rest. And sure enough wearing his Colts hat and beaming from ear-to-ear was Jerry.
Jerry was eager to get autographs from the pair of offensive guards in attendance. Sure enough, after a short wait, he got autographs from linemen Jamey Richard and Jaimie Thomas, and to top it off, an autograph and picture with Colts Cheerleaders Marissa and Nicole.
Richard is an offensive guard from the University of Buffalo who appeared in nine games last season. Thomas, a first year player out of Maryland, is also a guard and was eager when he arrived at North Manchester High School and saw the crowd.
"It is always nice to go somewhere you're welcome and appreciated," Thomas said. "This is my first time doing one of these so having a nice turnout and seeing the kids and parents have fun is great. It means a lot to us to come out here and have the fans show us support."
The people of North Manchester proved that they are blue through and through. The line for autographs was overflowing with people of all ages and wrapped around the parking lot. The players and cheerleaders were busy signing autographs for the entire two hour duration of the event.
"Colts fans are all over the place and they are very dedicated fans," Thomas said. "They take care of us on Sundays and we try to take care of them the best as we can and this is one way we can do it."
The kids at the event were able to slide down the mountain slide, climb up the rock wall, catch punts from the Jugs machine and test their skills on the QB challenge.
The MIP Tour's next stop will be in Avon on Thursday, June 10.
For more information on the MIP Tour click on the FanZone tab. Or to keep up with the tour you can also follow my blog on mycolts.net.
