But what about the little things?

I love performing in front of thousands and thousands of people at the football games. But performing for a few hundred high school kids who literally worship you… that’s beyond love. That’s what gives me the passion. Because I remember being one of those kids. We made an impact on those kids that is bigger than any of us can comprehend. They will always remember it.

Frawley may have seemed like a “little thing” on our schedule to some. With games almost every weekend, Allentown tomorrow, and so much on all of our plates, why should we bother going to a high school competition? Because to them… it was anything but “little”. And to me… it was one of my favorite performances (save for having to march over the pitchers mound!!).

And the bus ride back? Singing every song under the sun with the clarinets and the mellos? Another “little thing” that made waiting around hilarious and fun.

I love band. I love making music. But what REALLY makes the UDMB special is all of the little things, and all of you.

Now let’s rock it at Allentown tomorrow!!!!

Love,

Sara

I was in my theatre class on Tuesday, and my professor, knowing I was in the marching band, started talking to me about her daughter that played piccolo at Band Day.  She came home from the game ecstatic and raving about how many friends she had made in the section.  My professor said she talked for over an hour about how great we were.

It’s amazing how much of an impact we can make on the high school and middle school bands by just hanging out and talking to them on the field.  It’s the small gestures that most of us aren’t consciously thinking about that really make the experience something special and unique for each person.

Sarv always says she would rather have us, the ones the field, hear the compliments she hears directly, rather than through her.  I never thought much about it until I talked to this professor.  It was really touching when she approached me as a mother and truly thanked me for making Band Day an amazing experience that her daughter will never forget.

Thank you so much for all your hard work so far!  Let’s keep pushing forward and make the rest of this season incredible!!

I just got back into my room after about an hour of hanging out, playing games, and having a great time with the majority of the clarinet rookies. We all were laughing, smiling, loosening up, and most importantly- having fun and realizing that the people around them like them, and that it will be a fun year. It’s extremely heart-warming for me to realize that I’M a part of what makes them feel at home here. It’s kind of a dejavu because I remember exactly how they felt last year. I’m just extremely grateful, and very proud, that I have the opportunity to make an impact on these peoples lives and to make them happy.

I want to thank all of you for a GREAT staff camp and what I’m sure will be an even greater band camp.

Sara Laskowski

P.S. potatopotatoPEAS!

Tonight’s kick-off to staff camp, and the official start the 2010 season, picked up right where last May’s meeting left off.  You guys and gals have impressed me so much with your ability to think forward, problem solve, and collaborate as a staff.  The communication has been wonderful, and we are setting ourselves up for a fantastic season.  My question to everyone (including myself) is:  How can we maximize the awesomeness of this season?

Here are some of my thoughts…

Being in marching band is all about the experience.  We all sacrifice a lot to participate in this activity (our last two weeks of summer, our MWF afternoons, the majority of our weekends in the fall, etc.) but we are rewarded with an awesome experience.  As a member of a marching band, participating in the music ensemble is a thrill in and of itself.  Anyone who was lucky enough to perform Malaguena in 2007, Pictures at an Exhbition in 2008, or Bohemian Rhapsody in 2009 (a few of my favorites) can attest to that.  As memorable as those performances are, many of the truly lasting memories are made off of the field.  The individual friendships we form and the camaraderie we feel with the other members of the band and our sections are at the core of our marching band experience.

As a staff, we essentially have two main responsibilities which – if fulfilled – will lead to an awesome experience:

1)  On the field, we must set a perfect example, create the best possible environment and assist our peers to the best of our ability.  As my pseudo-scientific high school band director used to say, hard work = success = fun.

2)  Off of the field, we must go above and beyond to enhance the experience of everyone involved.  Organizing section socials/get-togethers, seeking out individuals to ensure they feel welcomed and accepted and appreciated, or even having your section do something for another section (the drum majors love cookies, by the way) — these are the types of things that enrich the lives of the people involved and strengthen the bonds between individuals, who then become a whole.

The more you invest in creating a positive experience for everyone, the more awesome this season will be for everyone (yourself included!).  And the investment will pay dividends by creating lasting impressions on the younger members of the band, who look up to you 10x more than you probably realize.  You will influence them to continue the tradition of excellence and encourage them to be just as (or even more) awesome when they are in your position next year, the year after, or three years down the road.  And then they will do the same for the group that comes in behind them, and so on and so forth…  For that reason, the awesome experiences that you create this season, both on and off the field, will be felt for generations to come.

As I stated before, I am floored by the maturity and passion of this group.  I have no doubts that you can rise to the task of helping to create an amazing experience for everyone involved and that  you, the 2010 UDMB Staff, will help to create a legacy of awesomeness.

- Andrew Tremblay, drum major

Apparently according to a discussion with Sarv, the current head band director at OSU used to work at Newark High School, and so he was around the UDMB for a while. It never occurred to me that people from as far away as Ohio would even know of our existence, much less be impressed by us. Every time I think of that I can’t help but have pride for the Pride of Delaware.

One of the first things that I noticed about the trumpet players was the dedication among every member of the section. There was a lot of humor and kidding around to be had, but when it was time to work we all put our heads down and did what we had to do. Some of the heroes of my early days were the dudes who raced to each set and knew their spots perfectly. Each reset was a competition, and that should be a common theme among the trumpet section. Never would it be said that the trumpets were the last ones to their dots. HEART

Another aspect of the trumpet section is the love of the activity that the ones who have been around have. My absolute favorite moments from band were the epic park and bark sections from Malaguena where I looked over and saw some of the older members grooving, worlds away from the stick-up-the-butt that I was used to in high school. Then there were crazy kids like Jordan Marvel who’s dances got more and more ridiculous as the years went by.  The running of the stands is another place, during a game you will often see an extra five trumpets slip in because they just can’t go a game without it. SOUL

I’ll never forget the first time I heard a recording of the band. The immense wall of music coming out of the TV at a Delaware Decision Day. At the forefront of that was the trumpets. Or the solo from Malaguena that the screamer played my freshman year, that will forever be ingrained in my head. Or lifting another soloist up my Junior year as he played out “Mama Mia” during Bohemian Rhapsody. Half of marching band is getting that music to those thousands of people in the stands. Our numbers are smaller this year,but as Pisarcik said in an email to the trumpet section, if we focus we can create an even bigger sound that we had with fifty with thirty. SOUND

What in the end defines the UDMB trumpet player? Three simple words that I wear on my wrist: Heart. Soul. Sound.

It’s important to have those ideas in mind as we launch into the 2010 season. As a trumpet player it is your responsibility to say what do those words mean to me and how can I uphold the tradition of excellence that has been a part of the UDMB for years before I was here?

Chris Wilson
-Tenor Sax

Then you start. And as the music fills your instrument, you feel your bad mood flowing out of you. And then there’s Sarv, jumping up and down because we are “finally” exciting. But then there is that momentary worry that she will finally fall from that cherry-picker, because she’s jumping so much. You find yourself laughing and smiling, and not faking having a good time, but actually having a good time. I mean you just look around and see all the people shaking their butts, who have less rhythm than you do, so how could you not.

Band is that release. That break. Those 2 hours where homework doesn’t exist, and you can actually have a little fun. Unfortunately, there is only 8 more rehearsals, 2 games, and 1 band banquet left to enjoy that time. So take it all in, be silly, and just live it up.

Even thought it’s not quite the end of the season, I can’t get this quote out of my head:

“Goodbye may seem forever. Fairwell is like the end. But in my heart’s a memory, and there you’ll always be.”

With Band Camp over, the start of classes occuring, and the first game coming up very soon, everything can start to get jumbled up into one big mess.  But its important to realize that there are different levels of importance on things.  Prioritizing time and effort has become a key to surviving in the marching band.  But maybe the most important things in life in general is to realize that you are only given so many hours in one day, so what you do with it is up to you.  Kay Lyons said best when she said, “Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely.”  You can’t worry about the past, because there is nothing you can do to change it.  You can’t worry about the future, because there is so much that can happen between now and then.  All you can focus is the right here and right now.  Use your time wisely, and just like cash in this economy use it in the best way possible.

- – - James Taylor

As I reflect on the 2009 University of Delaware Marching Band, many things come to mind, different activities, events and inside jokes that we shared as a group during the nearly four months that we were together making music.  Some memories will be wonderful and a pleasant reminder of all the good times we had together.  Other memories will be a reminder of the turmoil and struggle which every individual, and the group as a whole endured.  However through all of the struggles and hardships of the season we always had each other to lean back upon, and it was that safety net of friends family, that gave the support to push through and come out stronger on the other side.

“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” -Barbara Bush

Contrary to many people’s beliefs Marching Band is not just a group of people moving around and blowing their brains out, it is much more.  It is a group of individuals that unite all their separate voices to work toward a common goal.  Without the contribution of every member playing his or her music or doing their work or flapping their arms the ensemble will only be able to accomplish so much.  However when everyone binds together and works toward a common goal, the end result is a gorgeous display of color, motion, music and passion.

“Families are like fudge… mostly sweet with a few nuts.” -Unknown Author

Many times during the season this year I had moments of complete breakdown.  However it was not tears of joy that I was shedding, but rather laughter from the antics of my peers.  One of the reasons that rehearsals and football games were so enjoyable this season was that there was always a sense of humor and humility floating around.  No matter if the sun was baking us like cookies in an oven or if the rain was turning our horns into rain catchers someone was always cracking a joke or telling a story about this one time at band camp.  It was those moments, those experiences of playing dinkle football with the Tubas or eating pizza at 10 before the last home game that I will remember the most.

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” -Confucious

This year we had two very well designed and entertaining shows that we put out at Delaware Stadium.  If you did not get a chance to see you missed out, the show this year was made up of four rock charts including Pressure by Billy Joel, Holiday by Greenday, Saturday Night is Alright for Fighting and Bohemian Rhapsody.  However our success this year went far beyond the simplicity of marching with good technique, being in time, playing the right notes and doing dynamics.  This show provided an electricity, an energy that drove performance, and the music to another level.  It was this energy that made performing day in and day out so much fun.

“A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.” -Proverb

To say what part of the season was my favorite this year would be doing an injustice to all the good times we had.  I could obviously point out the first night with the rookies and woosh, the band camp rehearsals, meeting the Delaware State Band, traveling to Allentown and performing in front of a packed house, having UMass come down and perform with us in our own stadium, meeting alumni that were at UD before I was even born and even seeing the seniors perform their goodbye show for rest of the band and audience.  However it is not just one of these that will stick with me as a reminder of this season, every memory that I have of this year is special and it is all of them together that made this season so much fun.

 “In my life I’ve loved them all”