Twenty years is a significant amount of time. July of 2002 was the summer I celebrated my 6th birthday. My party involved playing in the neighborhood pool and eating what is still one of my favorite foods – pizza. I think it’s extra special to reflect on the fact that some of those party guests are still my friends today. Lizzie, Tori, Abby, and I all met when I moved from Dallas, Texas, to the Grand Strand community.
During the fall of 2002, I began first grade at Waccamaw Elementary School. This was also the time frame that I started twirling batons and learning from my inspirational coach, Laura Card. To get competition ready, I would take the bus to her house every day after school. My bus rides consisted of putting on my headphones and slipping my favorite mini discs into my Hit Clips player (until the iPod took over a few years later). These tunes mostly consisted of ABBA, *NSYNC, Madonna, Aaron Carter, and of course, Britney Spears. Oh, the nostalgia! I even dressed up as Britney for Halloween that year because as a child, being a pop star was a dream.
Music has always been a constant in my life, and although I am not a pop star, loving my career was always a real dream of mine. The opportunity of returning to my community as a working adult is especially fulfilling. To live where I grew up and genuinely enjoy my work life as an editor, outreach coordinator, and performer, is the highest gratification. Although a lot has changed in the last two decades, I truly adore and appreciate the aspects that have also remained the same.
To all of the readers, writers, and advertisers, thank you for being a part of Sasee’s community and for all of your support over the last twenty years. I hope you all enjoy the rest of this very special edition. Please join me in wishing Sasee Happy Birthday!
Cheers!
Wow! That’s an impressive resume! It takes a lot of skill, coordination, and persistence to twirl a baton! I had eternal admiration for the Twirlers when I was a nine-year-old kid, and I saw them perform at every game in Plainfield, NJ and even at the away games. You see, my mother was a high school Spanish teacher, and her extra-curricular assignment was to chaperone the cheerleaders and the twirlers. I was older than my sibs so I was the one chosen to accompany Mom on autumn Saturdays. The cheerleaders I didn’t pay much mind to, nor did I watch the game, but the girls with the batons captivated my attention and imagination. I still remember them.