Marci Papadopoulos’s mother, Maxine Furuike, was the feature twirler for San Jose State University. She is pictured here on October 23, 1965, twirling at the SJSU game against University of Arizona.
In 1963, Ms. Furuike embarked on a month-long baton twirling tour of Japan. She was accompanied by her mother, Mrs. M. Furuike. The tour included television and stage performances. About four years later, in 1967, baton twirling lessons were introduced in Japan.
The World Baton Twirling Federation lists Maxine Papadopoulos among the renowned coaches of the WBTF’s early gold medalists, who, in 1980, “had a vision and made that vision become a reality through the development of Freestyle…”
Photo Source: San Jose State University Special Collections and Archives Department
Fact Sources: baton-jp.org; California Digital News Collection; wbtf.org; 1965 La Torre, SJSU
