Taking a seat for practice

Twirling plastic lawn chairs in an empty office building parking lot to the tune of the B-52’s song “Love Shack,” the Patio Chair Drill Team was hard at work practicing for the Balboa Island parade on Saturday.

The group, which has become synonymous with the parade over its eight-year existence, has been preparing for the event since February.

The drill team has performed its plastic-chair inspired numbers at past parades to the tunes of Buster Poindexter’s “Hot, Hot, Hot” and Kool and the Gang’s “Ladies’ Night.”

“It’s all about fun and friendship,” said long-time drill team member Lori Krans. “We’re not here to compete, we’re just a bunch of mature adults having fun.”

Michelle Price, who choreographed the group’s five-minute routine this year, chose “Love Shack” because it was up-tempo and easy to dance to.

“I needed something fun and upbeat that the crowd would know,” she said.

Organizer and founder of the group Meridee Banas has said this will be the last year the drill team will perform in the parade, because of the time and effort that goes into choreographing the patio chair routines.

“Every year, they say it’s just too much work and enough already,” said Jerry Lester, who has helped carry the drill team’s banner in the parade since its second year of existence. “We’ll have to see if it’s going to die or not.”

The Balboa Island parade begins at 11 a.m. today at Bayside Drive, continuing over the Balboa Island bridge and onto Marine Avenue.