Gurnee honors Angel Drill Team founder

Angel Drill Team founder Nathaniel Hamilton received a special salute from the Gurnee village board Monday night.

Hamilton, a retired Navy senior chief and drill instructor who lives in Gurnee, founded the Lake County group in 1967 and is retiring when the season ends Labor Day weekend. Angel Drill Team is the only all-girl synchronized rifle tossing and twirling marching champion in the United States.

“He’s an outstanding citizen,” Gurnee Village Administrator James Hayner said of Hamilton.

Angel Drill Team has captured 23 national championships and four international titles under Hamilton, along with more than 700 trophies and citations. The Angels marched in President Barack Obama’s inaugural parade in Washington in 2009.

Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik read a proclamation at Monday night’s meeting honoring Hamilton, who wasn’t present.

“The Angel Drill Team has been a continual source of community pride for Lake County,” stated the proclamation Kovarik read. “And Chief Hamilton has given much to the youth of the county throughout his career as an educator and as the Angel Drill Team founder.” More than 2,000 Lake County girls have been Angel Drill Team members. Hayner said Gurnee deputy clerk Donna Dallas was on the first team in 1967.

Current and former Angels will give a final performance at 1 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Zion Jubilee Days Parade. A banquet honoring Hamilton is set for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 3 at Greenbelt Cultural Center near North Chicago, with ticket information available through Dallas at (847) 360-9338.

Hamilton also is known for his huge collection of multicultural materials that he takes to area schools in hopes of raising awareness.

His eclectic collection features thousands of items, from a Martin Luther King Jr. board game to posters featuring the history of Hispanics in America. Hamilton, a retired school principal, has been gathering the pieces for the past 25 years and has estimated he’s invested $375,000 in acquiring them.