Show o 18-- The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday March 30 1986 I t fj V V i i V ‘8 8 fc 7wrv : 4“ vfh 4 i’ I ' 44 4444 ' rH v V V ft ‘ § $ a Something to if S ? Cfc't'i “i K 6 jC Cfc I S' i S' By Edith Morgan staff writer What would a Cache Valiev parade be without those flashy drill teams from Sky View Logan and Mountain Crest high schools and those junior drill teams with the 10- - to doing a fair imitation of their older sisters and the tired little stragglers 3 4 and 5 years old bringing up the rear? By the time the girls are in high school being a cheerleader or a member of the drill team is not only an indication that the girl is trained to perform the intridate routines but of her popularity But whose idea is it for those tiny ones to prance down Main Street? Most likely mothers of cute little girls who were themselves on the team or longed with all their teenage hearts to be are not going to have their daughters miss out on being among those marching according to Pauline Fuller founding mother of Utah State University Aggiettes Fuller says that most of the women who have been in Aggiettes want their daughters to have the experience that being part of a drill team sets a way of life Once you have been in shape to perform the taxing routines you find that you like to keep yourself in shape she said “Look at those women who were in the first group of Aggiettes in 1953 They have kept their girlish figures and like themselves for doing so" Fuller said “Then too many of them have kept dancing after they have married either "" x '4 teaching in high schools or having their own dancing studios Dancing has stayed a part of their lives" The idea for the Aggiettes came evolved from a conversation Fuller nad with Philip Dably then leader of the ' 7 aK USU band They decided that some more exciting activities at the entertainment was needed for the USU basketball games “We decided that he would arrange the music and I would get the dancing girls ‘‘From the first everyone loved them" Fuller said ‘They became the USU signature not only at basketball games but at football halftimes too" half-tim- e Fuller directed the troupe from and after 1953 to 1960 “I have judged d"shesa professor of health Physical Education and Recreation at feu Jackie Fullmer took over in 1960 when Pauline went on sabbatical “It was decided I would direct the j year That one year turned into 23" Jackie sa “I loved my time with the Aggiettes and always get a thrill out of seeing them perform” she said She remembers one'performance when she had to substitute without rehearsal for one of the girls who had broken her leg skiing during the afternoon before a basketball game ‘I lust put on a uniform and went out" she laughed “At one time during the routine I stopped right in front of HB n i 'f ' V r ' ' Hunsaker then head of the HPER department He looked at me startled and then said ‘Jackie is tvou?'” v Jackie explained that tryouts are before fudges The (iris do not perform a prepared routine rather the judges tell & them whatthey want them to do and then the girls dance in groups of six r‘They are looking to see how fast the girls up a routine and also checking each girl's personality and J v 44 f s 4C4 attitude" Jackie said 4 ir Jackie has worked for man groups and ' pageant and the Rocky Mountain Drill Team Competition ( Irene Bates took over for Jackie in 1972 and is still director of the Aggiettes She is also advisor of the USU cheerleaders 4 ' -- andsongleaders She was a cheerleader at Idaho Falls High School and her senior year was cheer queen When she came to Utah State she was chosen for the Aggiette team “Pauline had decided that the Aggiettes shouldrange in height from 5 feet 2 inches to 5 feet 6 inches I am only 5 feet tall but Pauline decided to 44 4 : ' make an exception in my case" Irene and her husband Jay have three sons and (me daughterPewho was an Aggiette and now directs the She works with student productions and does the choreography for the Glenn Miller floor shows "I think drill teams for little girls are a little bit like League It trains them for what the big girls do It is an outlet for all that energy that little kids have and they ha ve fun" £' £s I I- - J: I Pauline Fuller founder of the Aggiettes (top photo center) says former drill team members often retain an interest in physical fitness and dancing through their lives Here she's shown with former Aggiettes and cheerleaders (from the left) Irene Bates Peggy Bates Christensen Sonia USU Miller "" i r ’w- V V W r Denice McClellan Dorothy Gaddie Watts Kathryn Gctke Israelsen Laura Benson and Nancy Cluff Hadfield The bottom photo taken in 1953 is of the first group of USU Aggiettes |