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...
Robert Olmstead was a band leader and early instructor in baton twirling in the United States. Born in California in 1915, he grew up performing in vaudeville shows. He played multiple instruments and became a highly skilled twirler who twirled batons on slackwire. In college, Olmstead...