Alumni Cheerleaders is excited to share this week's feature story about member, Cara (Signon) Rinne.  Cara is a former Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleader for 5 seasons. (1995-1999)

Cara (Sigmon) Rinne fell in love with dancing after her first ballet class at the age of 9 years in her small town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  It was one of two studios in the area and only offered ballet, which thrilled Cara.  The school owner, Miss Charlotte, was a strict, classical ballerina and was intimidating, but made Cara realize the importance of good discipline.  Cara performed in The Nutcracker and other various spring performances such as Swan Lake, Giselle and others over a nine year period. 

A friend encouraged her to try out for the pom pon squad in high school.....one problem, she had to learn to dance “funky”.  After a few failed tryouts, Cara ended up cheering for three years in high school and loved it! 

College at Oklahoma State University also proved to be a challenge when it came to making the pom pon squad.  After three tries, Cara cheered for another three years....her senior year and both years of graduate school.  She says she went to graduate school just so she could cheer longer! 

After graduating from OSU with a B.S in Speech in 1992 and a M. A. in Speech-Language Pathology in 1994, Cara still had that cheering itch!  She applied for jobs only in large cities which had an NBA or NFL team......thus landing her in Kansas City. 

She knew that at the age of 25 she would be competing with 18 and 19 year olds for the 34 spots on the squad.  No more failed tryouts this time.....she made the KC Chiefs Cheerleading squad in April 1995.  Even though she was one of the older “rookies”, all the girls made her feel welcomed and loved.  Cara went on to cheer for five seasons with the Chiefs and was captain for the final three years.  She represented the Chiefs along with nine other NFL cheerleaders from other teams for the Austrian Soccer League in Austria for three weeks in December 1999.  She also went to the American Bowls in both Monterey, Mexico (1996) and Tokyo, Japan (1998).  During this time as a cheerleader she worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist at Trinity Lutheran Hospital specializing in Dysphagia.

Elaine Hart, the director of the cheerleaders for 20+ years, taught the importance of character building, servanthood and the love for others.  Cara learned the importance of living for others and continues that passion with the love and care of her family, friends and serving in her church, First United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, KS.

During her final season with the Chiefs she meet her knight in shining armor, Jeff.  They were married a year later.  She gave up her Speech-Language Pathologist lab coat and cheerleading pom pons to wear the ultimate identity hat....”Mom”. Cara delivered twins, Bo and Bella in 2002, along with Baxter in 2004. 

Cara has always had a passion for sewing and started making hooded baby towels for friends when they were expecting.  She also found it challenging to find matching boy/girl outfits for her twins for pictures or special occasions, and ended up sewing their outfits herself.  Coordinating room theme/bedding was also a challenge.  She launched her company, Two Guppies, in December 2005.  She makes custom-sewn bedding, clothing and accessories for kids....specializing in multiples!  Feel free to check out her website at www.2guppies.com.