Baton Twirling in the MLK Parade
by Mallary Tenore Tarpley
It’s up there somewhere …
Twirling behind fire engines … worst place to twirl in a parade!
Part of the Poynter posse
Keith trying to twirl.
Have to get ’em started at a young age.
I told you in my last post that I would show you some footage of me twirling in St. Petersburg’s Martin Luther King Jr. parade. Well, you can watch me try to relive my glory days as a competitive twirler in this video, which my editor at Poynter made. Twirling the baton is like riding a bicycle. You (and the baton) might get a little rusty, but you never forget how to twirl.
What do you think? You ready for me to give you some twirling lessons?
That’s pretty hardcore, but can you twirl a flaming baton? The amazingly cool cowboy/art teacher/after care director at my elementary school could. He had a ponytail too. Oh, the 90s…
Yes, I used to twirl flaming batons back in my heyday! Not anymore, though. You need special batons to do that, which I don’t have, sadly.