Lee Kumer, director of the Golden Triangles, a 42-year-old baton and drum corps, remembers the dearth of choices for athletic girls when she was growing up.

"It was either learn baton or dance or sit on the porch and do nothing," Kumer said.

Now, groups like the Triangles jockey to snag some of the attention that sports such as soccer, field hockey, basketball and softball garner from teen girls across the area.

Kumer said it's her goal to keep eyes on baton-twirling, so she's hoping people turn out at 4 p.m. Saturday when 36 groups that showcase baton-twirling, drumming and flag-whirling will meet for the 25^th annual Three Rivers Winter Ensemble Association competition at East Allegheny High School.

But not many such organizations have the history -- or ongoing legacy -- of the Golden Triangles.

Started under the direction of well-known theater coach and director Larry Cervi, the Triangles performed for the first time in a July Fourth parade along the streets of Turtle Creek.

Kumer said she remembers how the group began in Swissvale, her childhood home.

"I just happened to look out our back window into the alley and saw girls twirling their batons. They were the Swissvale High School majorettes," said Kumer, who now lives in North Versailles and runs a dance supply shop on Lincoln Way in White Oak.

Kumer was about 9 or 10 when her mother got her into twirling lessons. After a few years, her mother and other parents formed the Triangles, with Cervi leading them.

Kumer said she continued with the group through school and into college.

"The first year I was at [Indiana University of Pennsylvania], I used to come home every weekend to perform."

Kumer loved the frequent holiday and celebration parades so much that she often took the bus home to participate.

"It was a different lifestyle back then," she said. "You'd polish your boots; [wash and] set your hair because we didn't have hair setters then."

Today, the Triangles consist of young women, girls and an occasional man who have a vast number of performance choices.

"It takes more to be committed now than it did back then," she said "Now, [baton and dance skills are] looked at as more of a conscious choice."

The preparation that goes into becoming a good performer "transfers to them being strong" people later on, she said.

And after 42 years, the Triangles also includes members whose mothers or other adult relatives preceded them in the group.

Kumer's daughter, Michaelene Stanko, 25, was a member of the group and is now assistant director for the Triangles.

Darlene Cipsic, 44, of North Versailles, marched and twirled with the Triangles from 1970 to 1978. She enrolled her 12-year-old daughter, Kayla, when she was 6.

"It's a very good group," Cipsic said, specifically of the instructors.

Over the years, Cipsic has noted a few changes; for example, there is no longer an all-male drum line.

But "a lot's the same," she said, "the same structure, the same integrity."