It must be fall; football is beginning and the kids are back in school.

For me, it was the perfect weekend in the state of Michigan for the Alumni Band to get together. The Michigan State University (MSU) Marching Band has around 300 players. This year the Alumni Band had about 450 participants from 23 states. Together, we had over 700 marching at half time on the field. And we did drills.

It all started with an email from the Alumni Band asking for us to sign up. I waited a while and decided to go for it. Better now while I can still march and play. My former roommate and fellow E-flat trumpet player Steve said he would join me to march. Another one of my friends could only join for the game day due to a Friday night commitment.

They say you cannot go back. We did, and we had fun doing it. I have not played so much in 24 hours in a long time. The last reunion I attended, my second, was in 1991, ten years after I graduated. I do not remember the Alumni Band being so big.

The weekend started with a group rehearsal on Friday night; like we were still in school, bright and early the next morning we went over our drill with the students—who looked sharp. We marched to the Stadium after grabbing a lunch and performed in the stands and then on the field for half-time and again in the stands and then on the field again for a post-game show before marching back from the Stadium.

As a special treat on Friday night, after our rehearsal, before we were dismissed, we heard from the new women’s basketball coach, some former football players, the band director from my era (I did not even know I was part of an era) and the University interim president. I then went to the hotel room with my former college roommate Steve and spent the night again sharing a room. I feel younger just writing this.

During the Saturday morning rehearsal, the alumni members were corrected or reminded how to march. It is amazing how quickly it all comes back and how much faith the directors have in us. The show came together without too much trouble.

On Saturday morning, it was a treat to practice marching and join the Spartan Marching Band (SMB) on the practice field. This field is so much better than what we had, including a taller platform for the directors to see how we are doing. The students did not have a paper copy of the drill like we all did; they had it on some app on their phones. Times have changed. The SMB all had matching t-shirts and looked and sounded great. It has been over 40 years since I was part of this group.

During our practice, it was great to see that the SMB and the Alumni Band have several fans in the stands next to the band’s practice field. I was happy to see my fellow E-flat trumpet player Bill in the stands to greet us.

The march to the Stadium after lunch was one of the highlights of the day for us in the Alumni Band. We formed up on our former practice field, near the music building, and the alumni band marched to the Stadium. The SMB followed later. We marched to the familiar drum line cadence, which the Alumni played to perfection, we tried to keep in straight line, and play the fight song, as well as cheer and sing as we marched to the Stadium.

We had great seats for the SMB’s pre-game show and, of course, the football game.  We did not know any of the drama that the football program would go through in the coming days and weeks with the firing of the head coach for our game. It is just as well that we could enjoy the moments for us and our fellow Alumni Band members.

Once the game began, we joined the band in playing for exciting moments in the game and then suddenly it was time to leave the stands and get onto the field to march the half-time show.  Several good memories came flooding back playing in the Stadium that is now 100 years old. Just the exhilaration of being part of this big thing we call the marching band was an awesome time.

Halftime went well. Thanks to the guidance from the SMB on field, I hit my spots and remembered how to turn.

The postgame show was a blast, even though it took us a long time to exit the stands and get back onto the field. The SMB performed a number and then we joined them for Everybody’s Everything—which was fun to play and move with the band.

Until next time, we formed up and marched through the tunnel and marched and played on the way back to the Demonstration Hall where we began our Alumni Band journey on Friday night. I think the experience was typical from what I remember from being part of the SMB. It is a long day; it was 11 hours after we first came to Demonstration Hall Saturday morning to warm-up that we were done for our day. The SMB probably (as we once did) had an after-game party to attend. Our group went out to dinner and we were tired.

Lessons learned:

Wear a hat—the sun was great; I just was out in it for hours and needed a hat.

Bring the music for the post game show—I had to look on with a friend to get the parts. Now I know what to bring.

Other Fun:

Spending the weekend with my friends. Do we look any different?

This is us at the last alumni band day we attended in 1991:

I am happy to report that we all remembered our band jackets and they still (mostly) fit. It does get cool in September on campus at Michigan State University.

I drove by the house where I grew up and my old high school on the way home. I also stopped and played some disc golf as well. Always a fun time.

I was happy to spend time with my buddies from school and play my trumpet all day and catch up with friends and band members that I had not seen in a long time. I think I will have to go back next year.

As I was walking back to the stands after the half-time show, I met the trainer for Zeek the Wonder Dog IV. It was a good conversation and Zeek, to his credit, ignored the 700 of us mingling around him. I remember the first wonder dog. The trainer has been working with II-IV. A fun job going out to the field and throwing frisbees.  

Walking to the Stadium and having to park for the early morning rehearsal, we walked by several alumni fans who were setting up their tailgate parties. We were amazed at the elaborate tailgate setups. Something new for me was seeing “Fowling.”  I had not previously heard of this game, bowling with footballs.  I was assured that Fowling is a Michigan based game. I will look for it to catch on next year across the country.

No bike rides on this journey.  I did get a run in on a sleepy and foggy campus on Sunday. 

See you on the road.