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Alumni Rams Band |
Marching with the Alumni Ram Band by Rob Fish, Class of '71
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For years, I got announcements from the Whitehall Yearling High School Alumni Band, letting me know that I could march with them in the 4th of July parade or the Homecoming parade. And every year I thought, "I should really pull out my sax and go play." And every year, I set the announcements aside and didn't think about them again until it was way too late. That changed in 1999. I got an invitation to play with the band at homecoming and decided to see what it was like. So I went to the Monday night practice, figuring I wouldn't tell anyone who I was, and if it didn't work out, I'd just leave and never come back. Welp, I stayed on Monday, and went back on Tuesday. I went to the Thursday night practice. And on Friday, I marched with the Whitehall Yearling High School Alumni Ram Band in the homecoming pregame and half-time shows. |
Homecoming 1999I'd like to tell you that I played better than I ever played before, and that I marched flawlessly. Unfortunately, I can't tell you that. Well....I could tell you that, but it would be a lie. Of course, I have an excuse - I was the oldest band member there, and someone forgot to order oxygen bottles for me. They should know that anytime someone from the class of '71 comes to march with the band, oxygen needs to be readily available (I'm not going to mention the lady who graduated in 1961, come back to cavort with the Alumni Ramettes, and appeared to have no need for extra oxygen). I did, however, have a lot of fun and met some pretty wonderful people. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Here's a digitized video image of the combined Student/Alumni Band during the pregame. The alumni portion of the band is pretty much on the left side of the "W" |
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As part of the half-time show, the combined bands did a script "Rams." You'll notice that in both the "W" above and the "Script Rams" below, the Alumni Band spelled their portion correctly. Here's the "Script Rams" from the half-time show: |
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You know, right about now my mom is pulling out a magnifying glass and putting her face REAL close to the screen, trying to figure out which one of those dots is me. I'm in the left leg of both pictures. Fourth from the bottom in the "Script Rams" and fifth from the bottom in the "W." Just look for the glint off a balding head. Some Pictures from Homecoming 1999David Leighton, a tuba player in the alumni band, took some pictures during the evening. I gotta say, I'm VERY impressed. I had trouble marching, playing and breathing. Not only did David march, play and breath - he was able to take some awfully nice pictures! (and no, none of the folks in the pictures is me).
If they'll have me, I'll be marching with the Alumni Band at next year's homecoming game. Actually, Jeff assures me they'll accept me - he said something about there being only three requirements for being in the alumni band at homecoming:
Star Spangled Banner If you feel like hanging around and download the file, you can listen to the combined Student/Alumni Band playing the National Anthem at the 1999 homecoming game. This is a 800k .mp3 file. If you have trouble downloading or playing the file, check the MP3 website for help. As you'll hear when you the song plays, the band was conducted by Jim Bukowski, a WYHS alumni. After you've downloaded the file (called anthem.mp3), use your favorite audio program to listen to the file. I use Quicktime, and there's a free player available at Quicktime.com A Final NoteIt looks like some of the brass instruments the band uses today were first put in service shortly after I graduated in 1971 - evidently the Whitehall School District has participated in the national trend towards reduced financial support for the arts. You wouldn't know that by listening to the student band play. I was unbelievably impressed by the way the student band played, by the enthusiastic attitude of all the kids, and by the way the kids interacted with the alumni band. Whitehall Yearling has a band everyone associated with Whitehall can be proud of . If you'd like to support this great group of kids by making a contribution to a "new instrument fund," make your check payable to "WIMBA" (that's the "Whitehall Instrumental Music Booster's Association) and mail it to: WIMBA Have questions about the WYHS Alumni Band? Debbie (VanDyke) Malmevik, co-president of the Alumni Band, said I could put her E-mail address here so you can contact her. Debbie's E-mail address is dmalmevik@yahoo.com THE Ultimate Band Fund Raiser
Anyone know what year the band started selling Texas Manor Fruit Cakes? And if they're not still selling them, what year they stopped? e-mail to update@wyhs.org |
"Aunt
Joan, its me. ummmmmm...we just got our order sheet, and I
know you still have some left over from last year, but, ummmm.......oh.
How did you guess the band was selling fruit cakes again?
You will? TWO? Of the large ones? GREAT! You're the BEST,
Aunt Joan! ....And I don't need to bring them over? I can
just give them to mom? Oh...but she's still got two left from
last year....Okay, I won't tell her. I'll just stick them
in the freezer like I did last year. Thanks, Aunt Joan. See
you at the football game!"