Continued from previous week
After announcing her retirement from competition, Mary Jane continued to serve as a majorette for the Green Bay Packers Lumberjack Band.
She also continued to teach dance, baton twirling and other classes, while mentoring young women — something she continued to do throughout her life.
Mary Jane’s stepson, Dave Sorgel, and his wife, Collette, said that she held those she mentored to a “high standard.”
“Basically, she helped everybody, and she tried to get women to do their makeup and their hair and dress properly, and always be poised,” the Sorgels recalled.
Van Duyse Sorgel also continued to perform around the state and served as a judge for multiple pageants and competitions.
She frequently appeared at halftime during the nationally televised Packers games and became a well-known personality around the state.
In 1959, Van Duyse trained in Clermont, Fla., to learn the art of water skiing while twirling the baton.
She combined the two talents to appear in five travel films to promote Central Florida attractions.
By then, she had already appeared in several radio and TV shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show and the Jack Eigen Show.
Van Duyse helped to promote the Citrus Tower in Clermont, which opened in July 1956 to showcase the thriving citrus industry in the area.
The tower provided a 360-degree panoramic observation deck to see approximately 35 miles in any direction.
That year, Mary Jane was also hired to help promote the movie Big Circus during a publicity tour in the Midwest.
The movie starred Victor Mature, Red Buttons and Rhonda Fleming with a plot that revolved around a circus owner trying to keep his financially troubled circus afloat.
The movie premiered in Wisconsin in connection with the Circus World Museum opening in Baraboo.
The Two Rivers Reporter said that Mary Jane got the movie promotion assignment when a hotel manager in New York City saw her and recommended her to Manny Goodman of Allied Artists.
Van Duyse was in New York City with the Weyauwega High School Band for the Lions International Convention and performed with them at Wisconsin Night at Madison Square Garden.
She also joined the band prior to the New York trip to help raise money for the band’s travel.
The Weyauwega band was there to play for the inauguration of Clarence Sturm of Manawa as he became president of Lions International.
Sturm is now memorialized through the organization’s Birch-Sturm Fellowship presented to Lions “who exemplify dedication and commitment” to the organization.
To be continued
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