This is a story about family bonding, reaching personal goals and living the dream.
Written by: Kelly Olivieri (my daughter)
Kelly Olivieri never thought her life would be defined by a watermelon. She never really liked them per se, but her mother’s side of the family sure did.
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Mississippi State University Famous Maroon Band – Alumni Band 2015
On a hot summer day in 1978 Kelly’s grandparents held a watermelon party at their house. As her grandmother was working her way around the room, she talked to a woman who offered to be a coach to her mother, Kathleen: a baton twirling coach, more specifically.
Kathleen ended up baton twirling throughout high school and at Mississippi State University as a Feature Twirler from 1984-1986.
Parents usually ask their children what they want to be when they grow up. Some say an astronaut, a doctor, or even president, but in Kelly Olivieri’s case she said “just like mom.”
“For me, it all started when my mother participated in Alumni Band Day in 2002,” Kelly said, “I saw her twirling in Davis Wade Stadium and I also saw how happy she was. Right then and there, as an eight-year-old I swore that I would be on that field too one day.”
Even though her mother pulled her hamstring while performing that day, Kelly still enrolled in twirling classes in Starkville.
For 12 years Kelly twirled with the support of her mother, eventually winning Miss Majorette of Mississippi multiple times. She also twirled all four years of high school with the Starkville High School Marching Band as the only Feature Twirler, also with her mother close by.
When it came time for Kelly to audition at MSU in 2012, both mom and daughter were as nervous as anyone would be with a childhood dream on the line. Ten girls auditioned that year, and only three were chosen: two previous twirlers and one newbie, Kelly.
“I was so proud of her when she made it. Not only because she had achieved her dream, but because she put in the work for it,” Kathleen said.
Kathleen is always by Kelly’s side during game days, with a camera close by. Kelly has been taught to smile on command from years of her mother’s picture taking.
This will be Kelly’s last year as a Feature Twirler, and to commemorate it Kathleen will twirl with Kelly one last time at Alumni Band Day on October 17 when MSU plays Louisiana Tech.
“Being a part of the MSU Famous Maroon Band is a family activity. In the 1980’s, my parents came to every game to watch me as a feature twirler,” Kathleen said. “And 30 years later in 2012, Kelly’s grandparents had the thrill of a lifetime to see their granddaughter on the same field! Seeing Kelly perform on the field was a moment shared by 3 generations, and something that we will never forget.”
I hope that you enjoyed the commemorative article written by my daughter, Kelly Olivieri. This is a story about family bonding, reaching personal goals and living the dream. Thank you for reading! Kathleen
