4:30 p.m. Today Jamerson has a side gig, so he heads downtown to the offices of Phase 3 Marketing, whose execs have hired him to perform at a monthly staff party. Wearing an embroidered corset, pink and white tutu, feathered mask, heavy black boots, stacks of pearls and red lipstick, Baton Bob is whisked up the elevator to the waiting guests who begin whooping and cheering as soon as they see him. After picking a song to play on his boom box, he grabs his baton and begins his elaborate twirling routine. Afterward, he mingles
with the crowd and poses for countless photos, and at least three people tell him how it always makes them smile whenever they happen upon him performing as they’re winding their way through traffic. 6:15 p.m. It’s time to start thinking about dinner. “I love to cook,” Jamerson says. His husband, Gary, a former chef who now works at a machine shop in Decatur, loves to man the grill. Jamerson admits he has to watch what he eats, though, in order to fit into the corsets and other figure-hugging outfits he wears. 8 p.m. Once or twice a week, Jamerson heads, in full Baton Bob regalia, for a cup of tea at one of his favorite area hangouts: Gypsy Kitchen, the Southern Gentleman or the lounge at the St. Regis. But most days end with Jamerson’s taking a warm soak in the tub. All that marching obviously keeps him fit, but at 64, it’s not as easy as it used to be. Of course, he’s not about to let a few aches and pains deter him from doing what he loves. “What I do isn’t a job, it’s a blessing.” n
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September 2016 | Simply Buckhead
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