Talk:Huskies Pep Band

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A Not-very-brief, uncited history of the Huskies Pep Band

Well, the first band at MTU was formed by Arthur Kitti, formerly of the Calumet and Hecla Band and a native of Calumet, Mich. (I don't have a reference handy, but the Michigan Tech Archives have some material on him.) It was a ROTC band, and remained as such for a number of years. I believe the band was formed in 1931, but I don't know for sure.

After Director Kitti left Michigan Tech, the band was directed by B. Franz Schubert throughout the 1940s, 1950s and most of the 1960s. Under his direction, the Huskies Pep Band became known as an excellent hockey pep band (performing at MCMT hockey games at the Dee Stadium in Houghton), and began shedding its ROTC roots in favor of a more freeform, decidedly NON-marching pattern.

However, the next director (Don Keranen, from the late 1960s to the late 1970s) was the first to introduce the band to its trademark "stripes," distinctive gold and black vertically-striped overalls. This was also the first time the band began using helmets - an apocryphal story has the band going to a shop in downtown Detroit and buying large numbers of yellow plastic miners' helmets to protect against debris being thrown by the opposing teams' fans at the Great Lakes Invitational hockey tournament. The stripes weren't always gold and black - at various times, most of the band has worn the standard pattern of stripes, but the trombones (and other low brass) wore red and white stripes while other sections wore red, yellow and black stripes.

The next director of the band was Michael Griffith, for ten years from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. He is currently on the faculty at the University of Wyoming - see Michael Griffith's university home page for details. Dr. Jeff Bell-Hanson took over in the late 1980s, serving as conductor until 2000 before moving to Pacific Lutheran University. See his page at this link. For one year, MTU hired Ontonagon band director Jesika Cane to conduct the band, before hiring Dr. J. Alton Thompson as director of bands. From 2002 to 2004, Alton directed the bands (including the pep band) until leaving to take a position in Taiwan. The current Director of Bands at Michigan Tech is Nicholas Enz, recently of Bethel College, Kansas.

--A.w.stephens 22:52, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scatter band

There has always been a debate about calling the band a scatter band. We are a pep band that can also sometime act like a scatter band. So, I'd suggest instead of saying that we ARE a scatter band, that we say, we're kind of like a scatter band. Mostly, we're a hockey band.. a pep band.. THE pep band.  ;o) --Wardorican 16:51, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

I'm new to this, so I wanted to try to add this picture. dah.. how can i get this to just show up?

[Band in 2003 [1]] --Wardorican 16:50, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Somewhere I have shots of the flaming trumpet. I'm not going to deal with uploading tonight though.--Epee1221 03:17, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Correction to my earlier post

OK, I was wrong. The 1930 Keweenawan (the Michigan College of Mining and Technology's yearbook) states that the Michigan Tech ROTC Band was formed in the fall of 1928. It was partly to provide music for military functions (the ROTC was a very large proportion of the college's enrollment at the time), and partly to represent the Michigan Tech football and basketball teams. As of 1930, 50% of the members were in ROTC, and as far as I know they never had a fully-ROTC band. It was directed by a Mr. Ernest E. Melville, a former professional bandleader and also director of the Michigan Tech Glee Club. The article includes a roster, and one of these days I may post it.

I've posted the full text of the 1932 article on the band in the Keweenawan below (minus the roster or picture):

Band – p. 161

“The Michigan Tech band of 44 pieces, under the direction of Arthur Kitti, has shown remarkable improvement during the past year. It has furnished music for the home footbal and basketball games, the football game at Marquette, the Armistice Day parade, the reception prior to the military ball, and the annual smoker. The bandsmen also presented a program from W H D F, Calumet, on Sunday, January 17.

“About sixty per cent of the 1931-1932 members were also members of the R. O. T. C. The percentage of cadets on the rolls has been gradually increasing since the band's formation, and it is hopes that soon the organization will be 100 per cent R. O. T. C.

“With the veterans supplimented by an unusually large number of freshmen, material has been plentiful and of good quality.

“Within the past year the band has secured a Sousaphone and two French horns for the use of bandsmen. This rounds out the instrumentation and makes for better balance.

“At the end of the school year awards are made to worthy members of the band in the form of band “M” pins to first year men and additional bars to those who have previously earned their pin.

“A drum and bugle corps, also under the direction of Mr. Kitti, is in the process of organization. It is hoped that this unit will, in time, be a noteworthy branch of Tech's R. O. T. C.”

A.w.stephens 19:03, 5 February 2006 (UTC)