Continued from previous week
Around the time that Mary Jane opened her dance and baton studio in Green Bay — appropriately named “Golden Girl Studio” — Carla Vandertie Coffey was just hitting the field as a Golden Girl.
Carla, however, had been twirling since the age of five and had a longtime relationship with Van Duyse.
“She certainly was a positive role model for me. The light in her eyes when she smiled was always there, and she certainly always had a smile for everyone,” Coffey recalled.
“What really sticks out for me is when we traveled together, it was not the Golden Girls, but three of her baton twirling students — a girl named Cheryl and her niece Susan and myself. We would go to twirling competitions all over the Midwest because we were her twirling pupils, along with dance and Golden Girl stuff.
“But, we were pretty young. Sometimes our mothers drove us, and we would stay for the weekend; but often, Mary Jane just drove the three of us, and she would take responsibility to get us into our competitions fully costumed and made up and warmed up for all of our events. We’d stay in a hotel and had an absolutely grand time.
“It seemed like it was during those times that I learned so much from her, and she was always gracious, compassionate, patient with us and she always made an impression on my life. But I think those more private times with her had the most impact. We learned a lot of life lessons just going to fancy restaurants and hotels and meeting people, learning how to be gracious among people. You know, I was a farm girl from Brussels; these were all very exciting opportunities for me and some that certainly my peers are not able to enjoy.
“Every year, we would have a recital and all of her students were featured in some way or another with their dancing, primarily. But then, of course, twirlers and soloists where in the recitals, and she wanted to make sure everybody would be a star on stage.”
Carla would later take the field — serving as one of four accomplished baton twirlers stationed at each corner — where she said she was made to look “as teenage as possible.”
She performed as a Golden Girl from 1966 to 1972 — ending her time on the field when she got married.
To be continued
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