Sometimes he’s Spiderman. Other times, he’s a University of Georgia cheerleader or a blushing bride. No matter what costume he is in, Jamerson said he is “just like the boy next door.”

“The key to it was my grandmother knew that I was gay from day one,” Jamerson said. “She respected me for that, she made no judgement of me, and she still loved me unconditionally as she did her other grandchildren.”

At 8 years old, Baton Bob watched college football games with his family on Saturdays. Instead of cheering on his favorite team or betting against the opponent, Jamerson looked forward to one thing.

“I just wanted to see the half-time shows,” Jamerson said.

After watching half-time show after half-time show, Jamerson became especially interested in one part: twirling.

“I was intrigued with that art form so I just decided that I was going to figure out how to do it,” Jamerson said. “And I did. I didn’t go to no baton training school, I didn’t get no lessons. I just sort of figured it out on my own.”

Jamerson was hooked. So, he asked his grandmother for a baton.

“Her suggestion to me was to go out and find an old broom and cut the handle off,” Jamerson said.

He used that broomstick until he could afford his own baton.

From Misery to Mirth

Although Jamerson remained interested in baton twirling, he pursued other interests. At the beginning of 2001, Jamerson was working as a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines and a freelance florist in St. Louis, Mo. Shortly before the Sept.11 attacks, however, Trans World Airlines was bought by American Airlines.

“American Airlines bought us out and put us all at the bottom of the seniority list under all of their employees, and then a month later 9/11 hit and the first people to go were all the Trans World Airlines employees,” Jamerson said. “A month after that, I was furloughed.”

After about a month, Jamerson said he struggled with being laid off, but one therapist gave him the answer.

“‘Next time you feel yourself slipping into that mindset in that moment, you go do something that makes you feel good,’” Jamerson said, recounting the therapist’s suggestion.

So, Jamerson looked to his baton.
“I went into [Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri] with exercise gear and an MP3 player to literally twirl my own spirit out,” Jamerson said.
Shortly thereafter, a local newspaper, the West End Word featured Jamerson. The editor titled the character “the Ambassador of Mirth,” but when St. Louis citizens found that Jamerson’s first name was Bob, they truncated his stage name to Baton Bob.
“One is synonymous with the other but the one that most people connect with and recognize through the website and since I’ve been in Atlanta has been in Baton Bob, so that’s what I go by,” Jamerson said.

‘Natural Healing Gas’

What initially began as an antidote for sadness turned out to be an opportunity to spread joy.
“I had no clue what the effect of that would be on all the voyeurs,” Jamerson said.

After two months of twirling in the park on a regular basis in 2001, Christmas came around and Jamerson decided to take twirling his baton to the next level. He would march in costume.

Being Baton Bob, however, does not come without hardships. During economic slumps, Jamerson said the entertainment business feels the pain, but that he always has an alternative.

“I always have another job whether I’m Baton Bob or not,” said Jamerson. “I’m in the field of entertainment; I’m a [freelance] floral designer. I do event planning, I do parties and all sort of stuff. I’ve been involved with flowers for twenty years. It was my first passion that I turned into a business.”

From 2010 to 2012, Jamerson took a short break to deal with familial problems.
Now that Jamerson is up and marching again, he has his plate full expanding Baton Bob’s repertoire.

“I’m working on a Baton Bob cartoon that’s coming out on my website,” Jamerson said. “There’s a lot of other avenues that I’m pursuing. I’m bringing more products. There’s going to be a Baton Bob bobble doll and later down the road there’s going to be Baton Bob doll. I’m going to become the modern day Barbie. People can go out and buy the dolls and the costumes and dress me up how they want.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 28, Jamerson filmed for the movie “Last Vegas,” starring Robert DeNiro and Morgan Freeman, which is set to release December of 2013.

“I”m hoping it’ll be a kickstart into the movies,” Jamerson said.

He signed a contract with CBS for a Baton Bob reality show, though he said he could not discuss the details of this project.

Jamerson also said he is working on publishing a book that chronicles his life, the evolution of Baton Bob and the struggles of being a gay, African American in the South.

“It’s sort of come full circle for me,” Jamerson said. “I want people to see I’m no different from the boy next door. The universe granted me this incredible spirit that I made a conscious choice to cultivate to make a difference in humanity.”

Jamerson said the title of the book will be “Hell to the No!”

“That’s my way of saying, ‘Hell No! I’m going to do this my way. I’m not going to go by your rules,’” Jamerson said.

For now, Jamerson said he will continue to march on a regular basis, posting his location on Facebook. Although his character may gain national acclaim, the impact he has on individual’s lives will remind him of why he took on the character.