Twirling Tradition
Beverly Bishop can recall herself at age 7, wearing a red and white fringed jumpsuit and twirling her baton in horizontals, around the worlds, two-hand spins and figure eights.
Bishop is now 57, and the memory holds strong — partly because she remains involved in the Flames and Flickers baton corps, which is marking its 50th year.
Started by Bishop's father, the late Leslie Bell, the group saw its heyday in the 1980s, with 80 twirlers marching in parades from Butler County to as far away as Wyoming.
In those days, local parades also featured the Trojanettes, Robinettes and eight to 10 other twirling corps that were judged against one another as part of their participation.
Bishop said Flames and Flickers is among the county's few remaining baton corps, if not the last. But at age 50, it still has more twirlers than when the group started.
"We started out with 23 girls: No van, no bus, no anything," Bishop recalled.
"We grew through the years, and at one point we had to take two buses," she added.
Now, the baton corps comprises 42 girls in three groups broken down by age: The Flints, 5 to 7 years old; Flickers, 7 to 11; and Flames, 12 to 18.
Once a year in August, veteran twirlers who call themselves the Burnouts also return for an annual performance in the North Washington Rodeo Parade, doing the standard "Drill O" routine taught since the group's beginning.
"It is wonderful to watch," said Stacy Gamble, 46, of Chicora.
"We've had comments before that even though we're old ladies and Burnouts that we're every bit as good as the current group."
Although the corps no longer includes a drum section, some Burnouts will take their drums to enhance the nostalgic events.
And many Burnouts have children that now belong to the corps.
Such is the case of Gamble, who participated from age 6 to 18. Gamble's daughter Kelly followed in her footsteps.
"I joined because my mom was in when she was younger," said Kelly, now 17 and the head majorette.
"It's taught me to help others and to be in charge of things when I have to be," Kelly said. "And I can pick up a beat in any song that I couldn't have done without it."
"I bought her a baton when she was 3 or 4 years old," Stacy explained. "I taught her the basics, played around with it. She wanted to do it because I had done it."
When Stacy Gamble was young, the baton corps held large appeal for youths because it offered the chance for travel. But the corps offered other benefits, too.
"I had a lot of great experiences," Stacy said. "I got to go a lot of places I wouldn't have been without it. The director was a great guy. I learned respect. It just all around taught you to be a good person, how to listen."
Gamble attributes declining baton corps participation to increasing activities available to youths."When I was in it, we did three or four parades a week — and you committed to that group. I didn't do a lot of other school activities," she said."We were expected to commit. These days, kids have so many more activities. ... It's harder to get the commitment — to really commit yourself to just one activity."Even so, current Flames and Flickers practice at least once a week in addition to at least one parade appearance."It does consume a lot of time," Kelly Gamble said, listing hoagie and stromboli sales along with other ongoing fundraising. The group also earns money by marching in parades.Since its inception, the group has been sponsored by the North Washington Fire Department, which offers its site for practice and equipment storage. Otherwise, the group is largely self-sufficient, having purchased its own van for hauling equipment.The group also pays for uniforms."The only thing our girls own are their batons and tennis shoes," Bishop said.Although membership has gone up and down since its peak in the 80s, Bishop said the current numbers reflect a resurgence, likely because of the excitement over the group's 50th anniversary.But despite the changing numbers, Bishop and other Burnouts say the mindset remains true to that of her father."We learned the importance of working together, of being a team," Bishop said.The Flames and Flickers will march Saturday in Franklin and July 10 in Emlenton. Summer highlights also will include the North Washington Rodeo and parade in August.
