First of all, what's a chick with a stick? Why, a baton twirler, of course!
My paranormal-mystery solving protagonist, Cleo Tidwell, is a majorette coach for the Allister State University Marching Band. I drew inspiration from my three years as high school majorette captain and choreographer, as well as private baton-twirling teacher and coach in high school, and later, at the Frankfort, Kentucky YMCA when I was the Fitness & Aquatics Director there back in the early 90s.
Most recently, I sorta got to follow in Cleo's footsteps when my high school decided to host its first ever alumni marching band at homecoming. Elected majorette choreographer, I went to work on designing two original twirling routines and was very pleasantly surprised to discover that my muscle memory for twirling was still strong and that I was only a little rusty. But after a few hours of practicing, it started coming back just like riding the proverbial bicycle. And I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this is what Cleo Tidwell does every week for her college majorette line during football season."
In less than two weeks, an alumni band as big as the marching band when I was in high school will gather and play/perform at the Gulf Breeze High School homecoming. I'm super excited about getting to twirl again after all these years with gals I went to high school with. I also think it's totally awesome that we range in age from 48-54. I can't even imagine my grandmothers doing something like this when they were in their 50s. People are a lot more youthful these days.
I've embedded links to videos of our alumni twirling routines. If you ever wonder what this writer does when she's not writing...well now you know!
My paranormal-mystery solving protagonist, Cleo Tidwell, is a majorette coach for the Allister State University Marching Band. I drew inspiration from my three years as high school majorette captain and choreographer, as well as private baton-twirling teacher and coach in high school, and later, at the Frankfort, Kentucky YMCA when I was the Fitness & Aquatics Director there back in the early 90s.
Most recently, I sorta got to follow in Cleo's footsteps when my high school decided to host its first ever alumni marching band at homecoming. Elected majorette choreographer, I went to work on designing two original twirling routines and was very pleasantly surprised to discover that my muscle memory for twirling was still strong and that I was only a little rusty. But after a few hours of practicing, it started coming back just like riding the proverbial bicycle. And I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this is what Cleo Tidwell does every week for her college majorette line during football season."
In less than two weeks, an alumni band as big as the marching band when I was in high school will gather and play/perform at the Gulf Breeze High School homecoming. I'm super excited about getting to twirl again after all these years with gals I went to high school with. I also think it's totally awesome that we range in age from 48-54. I can't even imagine my grandmothers doing something like this when they were in their 50s. People are a lot more youthful these days.
I've embedded links to videos of our alumni twirling routines. If you ever wonder what this writer does when she's not writing...well now you know!
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