Western Band

Athletics Department, Facilities, etc.
wiu712
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Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:05 pm

GV Dad wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:27 pmJust a thought, could we get a "guest" High School band from the area for each game? Also adds to the attendance.
Good idea.

Back in the 60's and 70's, one football game each year was designated as "Band Day". High School bands from the area would come to the game and play a couple of songs with the Marching Leathernecks.

I can remember one specific Band Day game where there so many high school band members present that they were able to spell out a block "WESTERN" that went all the way from the north endzone to the south endzone. Those combined bands then joined the Marching Leathernecks to play the Western Fight Song as the finale to the half-time show. The sound was amazing!

When Helen Smiley was Western's A.D., she would often times bring in a high school band to play at the basketball games during the 4-week semester break.
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ST_Lawson
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wiu712 wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 7:22 pm
GV Dad wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:27 pmJust a thought, could we get a "guest" High School band from the area for each game? Also adds to the attendance.
Good idea.

Back in the 60's and 70's, one football game each year was designated as "Band Day". High School bands from the area would come to the game and play a couple of songs with the Marching Leathernecks.

I can remember one specific Band Day game where there so many high school band members present that they were able to spell out a block "WESTERN" that went all the way from the north endzone to the south endzone. Those combined bands then joined the Marching Leathernecks to play the Western Fight Song as the finale to the half-time show. The sound was amazing!

When Helen Smiley was Western's A.D., she would often times bring in a high school band to play at the basketball games during the 4-week semester break.
Lots of other schools have "Band Day" as well...our game at Illinois was their "Band Day", as was our game at Northwestern a handful of years ago. I know EIU had "Band Day" a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of other schools do it. Not sure why we haven't been able to do that here (or keep it going from when it was going on). It wasn't still going on when I was in band at Macomb High, so I don't really know what issues there might have been.

I was actually in the Macomb High Pep Band one year that we went and played for a WIU game...would have been back in the early '90s.
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
Western Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
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