Even if they weren’t famous, you wouldn’t be able to miss Ashley and Maegen Bailey.
The 24-year-old identical twins — blond, green-eyed, tall and striking — stand out in the crowd lingering in the hallway of rural Union Hill Baptist Church, Oneonta, before the Sunday morning service.
But they don’t linger long.
Maegen, who has served as church pianist since age 16, is headed to choir practice, and Ashley, a first-grade Sunday School teacher, is doing a head count to make sure all of her children have found their parents.
“There’s Bama Twin No. 1!” shouts an older child, pointing at Ashley.
She laughs shyly. She’s used to it.
The two girls — known as the “Bama Twins” — have seen their faces plastered across national television, newspaper pages and even billboards since a friend gave them a pair of free tickets to a University of Alabama football game in 2005.
Neither of them attended the school. Maegen wanted to live closer to home so she could keep her pianist role, so the pair picked the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). But they loved Bama football and on a whim, Ashley picked up a houndstooth hat for the trip to Tuscaloosa.
“We don’t ever dress alike,” Maegen said with a laugh. “But I really liked the hat, so I decided to get one, too. And then when we started getting ready for the game, you could really only wear either crimson or black to match the houndstooth.”
So the two went dressed alike and the rest is history — the cameras loved them.
“People sometimes think we set out to get famous, but we had no idea what was happening. Our parents saw us on CBS several times during the game,” Maegen said.
Since their accidental step into the spotlight, the twins have become a mainstay for cameramen during the games. They’ve made it into other sports realms as well, including serving as spokesmodels for Aaron’s 312 and 499 NASCAR races in Talladega in 2007 and participating in the 2006 Southern Sports Awards in Charlotte, N.C.
“They have gained their fame by doing nothing but going to Alabama football games dressed alike,” said Anna Bailey, the girls’ mother.
But at the Friendship Baptist Association church, they were already famous — and for more than just their striking appearance.
“Maegen’s intensity on the keyboard is the same as when she is in the stands at an Alabama game,” Jeff Gardner, minister of education at Union Hill Baptist.
That day during the service, Maegen tore up a difficult, sweeping arrangement of “My Tribute” for the offertory. Folks in the congregation don’t really think so much about the fact that they saw her on a wireless phone billboard on Interstate 65 as they do about the way she’s leading them in worship and teaching their children to do the same.
“We’ve watched her grow up, and she’s dedicated, talented and easy to work with,” said Nancy Barnett, interim music director and wife of Pastor Bill Barnett.
Maegen teaches piano lessons at the Bailey home in Altoona as well as at the conservatory of First Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association. At UAB, she is pursuing a degree in music therapy.
“I believe God has given me this talent that I am able to glorify Him in and equip and encourage other children to do the same,” Maegen said. “Plus I absolutely love it.”
Ashley plays, too, but her passion eventually took a turn more toward the teaching than the playing.
“When I started to school at UAB, I was a nursing major. I soon realized this was the wrong direction for me,” she said.
So Ashley changed her major to elementary education and became her church’s first-grade Sunday School teacher.
“I absolutely love my education choice. At church, it is exciting to watch the children learn about God. They get so excited about the lesson for the week and the craft,” she said. “The first question each week is, ‘Miss Ashley, what do we get to do today?’”
Both Ashley and Maegen have helped with worship for Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the church and the association.
“They are some of the greatest examples of godly young women for our children to follow,” said Melissa Drake, children’s Sunday School director at Union Hill.
Barnett agreed. “They appear not to have fallen into the traps that others do sometimes when they go to college.”
“Well we’re not perfect,” Maegen said with a laugh.
“Even so, ever since you worked with them in VBS, my daughter and her friends think you hung the moon,” Gardner said.
The twins agree that’s more important than any houndstooth fame they could ever have.
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