Purdue News
Purdue News
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August 21, 1992 Purdue Marching Band's Solo Twirlers NamedWEST LAFAYETTE, IND. – A returning Golden Girl and Girl in Black will be joined by new Silver Twins as the famed solo twirlers with Purdue University's "All-American" Marching Band for the 1992-93 season. Returning for her third year as Golden Girl is Holly Fehrman, 21, a senior in elementary education from Aurora, Ind.
In her second year as the Girl in Black is Alisha Bane, 20, a junior in secondary education from Oxford, Ind. The new Silver Twins are Robyn Yumi Beck, a freshman in pharmacy from Findlay, Ohio, and Dawn Vardaman, a freshman in industrial management from Merrillville, Ind., originally from Fort Wayne. Both are 18. They succeed Lisa and Renee Rhodes of Peru, Ind., who cannot perform this season because Renee has a class-schedule conflict with the band's daily rehearsals.
The four solo twirlers were named after annual auditions were held on campus Thursday (8/20). On returning as Golden Girl, Fehrman said, "It's a wonderful feeling. It's a challenge to live up to the traditions associated with being Golden Girl." Girl in Black Bane said, "It's really exciting to be back for a second season. I had great experiences and am really looking forward to the new season." The new Silver Twins bring strong family ties to the Purdue band, and both said it is a dream come true to become solo twirlers with the band. Beck's older sister, Dawn Yuki Beck, also was a "non-twin" Silver Twin with the band in the mid-1980's and was Golden Girl in 1988-89. Vardaman's parents, both 1972 Purdue graduates, also were active with the band. Her mother, Lizabeth, was Twirling Line captain and her father, James, was a drum major. Beck and Vardaman only met a few days ago during the pre-season marching band workshop and only decided Thursday morning to audition as Silver Twins. All four twirlers bring award-winning credentials to the positions. Fehrman has been involved in competitive twirling since the age of 9 and has placed in top positions in national competitions. Bane began twirling competitively at age 7 and has won more than 400 state, regional and national twirling awards. Beck, a twirler since age 5, also has won several awards, most recently being named a 1992 Majorette Queen of America and winning 1991 Senior National Fancy Strut-Off Champion honors. Vardaman began twirling when she was 4, holds some 300 local, state and regional awards, and performed at this year's Super Bowl and in Barcelona, Spain. The internationally recognized Golden Girl position was created in 1954 as the band's counterpart to legendary Boilermaker football quarterback Lenny Dawson, who was dubbed by the press as Purdue's Golden Boy. The band added the Silver Twins in 1960, and the Girl in Black position was created in 1962. Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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