The University of Texas Longhorn Alumni Band

We are working on planning our 2nd annual Family Fun Bash on Friday night before Band Day. Thanks to Christi Cuellar and Nefertiti Williams for doing such an outstanding job planning this event last year, it has now become a LHAB tradition. This event will allow you and your family to join us on Friday evening in the north concourse in Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. We will have events for the kiddos, babysitting by TBS, dinner, and the LHAB playing rehearsal and everpopular Business Meeting. We are also checking on a hotel room block for our out-of-town guests.

As you can see, we have a lot of fun activities planned for this year. We would love to see you all there - making this the most attended Band Day ever! If you have any ideas or suggestions, please complete the BandDay survey (discussed in the next article in The Blast), or email me at cnoonan@austin.utexas.edu.

Our scholarship committee, led by Janice McKennon, announced the 2010-2011 LHAB scholarships at the LHB Banquet in May. We have created two new brochures and have posted LHAB officer descriptions on the web. We would like to encourage all LHAB members to remind their friends who are not current LHAB members to join. Also, please remember to keep your contact information current so we and your LHAB friends can stay in touch with you. You can do so at: http://www.lhab.org/login/lhabinfoform.cfm

We will be in touch with more details about Band Day as the fall approaches. Looking forward to seeing you on October 22nd and 23rd!

Hook ‘em!
Coral Noonan-Terry, Ph.D.
LHAB President
Feature Twirler, LHB '93-‘01

Last year, we awarded over $30,000.00 in scholarships to deserving LHB members. This year’s scholarship committee included the following individuals: George Greene (Board of Trustees), Ryan Showers (Board of Directors), Amanda West (LHAB Officers), and Janice McKennon (Chair). Many thanks go out to Ben Lee Schneider for posting the online application; George Moxley for assisting in all areas of the scholarship process; and to Lucas and Karissa Horton for their work on the tabulation process. The scholarship committee made its recommendations to the Board of Trustees at their April meeting, and the scholarship awards were announced at the Spring LHB Banquet.

As you all know, our local area ensembles recruit donations throughout the year by performing at various events. It is a fun and exciting time for all of our participants. These funds, in addition to Band Day registration, contribute to our Charitable Fund balance, which helps to fund the scholarships to the deserving LHB recipients. We would like for each of you to participate in these ensembles throughout the year. We strive to continue to be invited to these events so that we can accept generous donations for our Charitable Fund.

If you have any questions, please contact Janice McKennon, Scholarship Committee Chair and LHAB President- Elect, at mckennonlaw@austin.rr.com.

You can mail a scholarship contribution at any time to:

Longhorn Alumni Band Charitable Fund
P.O. Box 1451
Austin, TX 78767-1451

You may also contribute online at http://www.lhab.org/donate.

Hook ‘em,
Janice McKennon
LHAB President-Elect, Scholarship
Committee Chair
Twirler, ‘76-‘78

Trombones and Clarinets in LHAB, clean out your archives! We need: pictures, t-shirts, scrapbooks, hats, horns, and any of the memories that you have during your years in LHB.

If you have pictures and written material, email them to me at: dbmc@texas.net.

If you have other memorabilia, mail it to me at: 5703 Shoalwood, Austin, 78756. All materials will be returned to you, and you will be given credit for your contributions. The showcase will stay in place until September 2011 when the 2011 football season begins.

Remember this will not be seen just by Longhorn fans at games, but by all visitors to the Music Building. We need to share our good times and our Showband of the Southwest spirit with the world.

Hook ‘em!
Donna Beth McCormick
LHAB Archives Co-Chair
Piccolo, 1956-1961

This is my first time to serve as an officer of Longhorn Alumni Band, and I can tell you that in a very short time, I have recognized that those management skills have been well-remembered by your elected officers. They are a dedicated group of people who bring a professional approach to the tasks at hand, and I’d put them up against any management team in the public or private sector.

It takes a great deal of year-long planning to make LHAB activities the enjoyable and successful experience it is for all of us and it is not just Band Day but other activities like the Longhorn Band Scholarship Program, Adopt-a- School program, website management, archives retention/display, instrument inventory management, music library maintenance, and the many performances by LHAB Area Chapters.

If you’ve ever wondered what has to happen for the LHAB to be successful and how those responsibilities are divided among your officers, we’ve got the answer. The LHAB website now contains job descriptions for all your elected/ appointed officers. Take some time to read them to see what your officers do. I’d also ask you to keep in mind that at some time in the future, you may want to use your particular skills and serve as an officer of the LHAB while giving something back to the band. These job descriptions could help you find the perfect fit.

You can read the LHAB Officers job descriptions at http://www.lhab.org/officers/jobs.cfm or by clicking the title next to each officer on the officer page at http://www.lhab.org/officers/.

Jim Schwobel
LHAB Vice President, Registrar
Sousaphone, ’65-‘66

The second piece we printed is a recruitment flyer that invites current and former LHB members to join LHAB. Benefits of membership are outlined in this flyer, and we added another new web address that makes it easier than ever to join online! Just go to www.lhab.org/join and fill in your information. Our hope is that these flyers will be distributed among many of those who may be wondering about LHAB, but just are not sure exactly how to get involved.

If you are interested in having some of each printed piece to pass out at your workplace, to friends and family, etc. contact Coral Noonan-Terry at cnoonan@austin.utexas.edu.

Hook ‘em!
Christi Cuellar
LHAB Past-President
Drum Major/Clarinet, ’90-‘95

(President’s Note: A special thank you goes to Christi Cuellar for all of her hard work creating these two brochures.)

• January 22: John Nyfeler’s retirement party
• February 6: UT Nursing School Reunion
• April 24 and May 2: Texas Community Music Festival
• May 1: 1st Annual Texas Run
• May 8: Maifest Parade in Brenham (where we performed twice around the parade, and are always treated very well).

We received substantial donations for these events, and everyone had a great time.

We have an upcoming event on Saturday, June 5 at 8:00pm at the Sheraton Hotel, 701 E. 11th at the Creekside Room for a 40th birthday party.

If you are in the Austin area and not on my email list, please send me your email so I can notify you about our events. We always need more people. We have a good time and receive a lot of donations for our scholarship fund- which is what LHAB is all about, helping members of the Longhorn Band.

Thanks to all those who have been helping out with these events.

Hook ‘em!
George Moxley
LHAB Austin Area Rep
Trumpet, ‘68-‘72
Utband1@aol.com

The service was on a weekday afternoon, and we were a little short of people. The family wanted "The Eyes" and "Texas Fight" played, and several excellent musicians from the TCU band were able to help. Fortunately, they knew our music, and we were able to do a good job.

It was an honor to be able to play this final tribute to a great alum, and I also had the pleasure to meet a new LHABmember.

Mel Kusin plays a great baritone, and while we were backstage, told me a number of stories of his time in the LHB back in the 40’s. I prevailed on him to write down some of his experiences, and he was kind enough to do so. You’ll find his story in this edition of The Blast.

Our second event was held last month. UT hosts a reception for the top ten percent students to try to recruit them and to answer questions. We had a small, but dedicated group brave the weather to play. We did the usual pieces; if you are small in number, then play louder! We’ll also play for the Send Off for the new students in July. Details to come!

I am back as area rep after some years, and we need to rebuild our DFW group. Our database records are not that accurate, so I’d appreciate it if you would email me at siharmon@aol.com or update your records in the database at: http://www.lhab.org/login/lhabinfoform.cfm if you would like to help us play for events like these. We raise money for the scholarship efforts, and we have a lot of fun, too. I know many of you always help, but now I’d like for you to contact your LHB friends in the area so we can build our numbers. We want to get more of our newer members involved. So, if you are one of those, and would like to help, I’d like to hear from you, too.

Thanks again to all of the DFW folks who helped us play for these events!

Scott Harmon
LHAB, DFW Area Rep
Drum Major, Piccolo, ‘68-‘76

This year’s tournament was held at ShadowGlen Golf Club on May 2, 2010 and featured over 85 players including the LHB Directors and many current members of the band. The tournament format was a four-person scramble and the winning team, from AEP Texas, edged out the competition in the last few holes to come in at -14 for the morning. The team won a free round of golf at the UT Golf Club, and each team member was given a football autographed by Mack Brown.

As I said, this year’s 8th Annual Golf Classic was the most successful ever, but we strive to make next year’s tournament even better. Next year’s tournament is tentatively scheduled for Sunday May 1, 2011, and we would love to see you out on the course! We will send out an announcement regarding the Golf Classic next spring, or you can check our website (www.texaskky.org/golf) anytime for the latest details.

Hook ‘em Horns!
Grant Niccum-President, Kappa Kappa Psi AT

Our director was Col. George Hurt, a distinguished former director of British military bands. FYI-British military bands were men only! And so we were all men-not even female baton twirlers or flag carriers. Within UT’s student body were a large number of female former high school band students who badly wanted to play, but Col. Hurt would have none of it.

In the early 40s, on-field maneuvers during college football halftimes consisted of straight military starts, turns, columns, etc. to marches only, much like the Aggie band today. Nothing fancy! Despite the lack of imagination, I was intrigued with the planning of the maneuvers, and Col. Hurt allowed me to sit with him as he explained and planned the next performances. Because they were relatively simple, I managed to grasp the essentials- which would stand me in good stead later as I will describe.

In October 1943, the Army opened its ranks to 17-year-old college students. The program was called ASTRP (Army Specialized Training Reserve Program) where enlistees were kept in college programs until age 18. A group of approximately 35 UT men jumped at the chance to beat the draft and chose their preference of Army branch. We were sent promptly to the University of Missouri for engineering training. I had picked armored warfare, and after my 18th birthday, was sent to Ft. Hood basic, then to Ft Campbell (KY) to the 20th Armored division, and then to Europe in late January 1945 just after the Battle of the Bulge. The 20th was part of Patton’s 3rd Army, and we saw combat in Germany and Austria before V-E day in mid-1945.

With over 2 million military people in Europe, there was a shortage of transport back to the States. Older family men were first in line to return to the U.S. while young single men were re-assigned to the still-hot Pacific theatre. One day while awaiting re-deployment, an ad in the Army newspaper, Stars and Stripes, seeking former bandsmen to fill rapidly-emptying ranks in Army bands caught my eye.

At the Special Services office in Paris, a large, affable, rumpled colonel behind a large desk sat up when I told him I had been a University of Texas Longhorn Bandsman. "Old George Hurt!" he exclaimed. The colonel was the band director of Northwestern University’s Wildcat Band in Evanston, IL and on leave to serve in the army. He said to tell "George" that he (George) owed him one since he was putting me in the best army band in Europe. He cut my orders right then to the 127th ASF (Army Service Forces) band stationed in Reims, France.

The director of the 127th (with rank of chief warrant officer) had a doctorate in Musicology from Columbia University. This was his first-ever experience with an army band where protocol required every member to learn to play every instrument in his family (in order to be able to fill vacancies when combat losses occur). Brass players like me were exempt from slide trombone. I found French horn exceedingly difficult, but I took to tuba quite well. We spent all mornings learning new instruments of our family and most of the afternoons preparing for the weekend community concerts in Reims as well as marches for frequent troop reviews.

On an early September afternoon at the beginning of a rehearsal, our director growled that the commanding general of the Oise Base Section (numbering approx 100,000 soldiers based in Reims) had worked up a football "conference" with three other base sections and that our band would play and march at halftime, "just like college bands do in the States during the fall football season." The director was at this wit’s end, never having experienced a college band’s football season. Nearly all musicians in the band at that time were fine professional musicians, only 3 were limited to high school, and only I had college band experience.

The director had scoured the records and asked me to meet with him after rehearsal. "Kusin, you have college band experience, and I want you to work out a halftime routine that will satisfy the colonel, and have it ready by 0800 to go over with me." Two weeks later at our first "game," at "home" in the Reims soccer stadium, our 40- person band marched onto the field and rendered a program of the stuff I had learned from Col. Hurt- straight aheads, turns, about-faces, etc., to the accompaniment of Washington Post and Stars and Stripes Forever. Stands were filled with American military personnel who were delighted to see a bit of real Americana.

Monday, with a big smile on his face, the director said that the general was so proud of us, he was going to send us on the road with the team to games at two distant base sections- Brussels and Paris. We would stay for the weekend in a nice hotel. We learned later the real reason for his effusive comments and rewards. None of his three colleagues, generals of the other base sections, had a band that performed like we did. He was heavily envied.

As more troops went home and European numbers shrank, the four base sections were combined into one large one, and our band was moved to Paris. By that time, only 21 players comprised the band. In Paris, we divided into three groups and played at USO dances in the Paris area- three dances per night. The band’s routine changed to handle the new assignments. Breakfast was noon, practice all afternoon until lunch at 6:00, play the dance until 1:00 p.m., then dinner and a jam/jazz session at the barracks until 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. The huge Paris mess hall ran three meal lines 24/7- you could have any kind of meal any time of the day.

May 8, 1945 was the first anniversary of V-E Day, with a big parade planned. Our 127th ASF Band was named to lead the parade, preceded by Gens. Eisenhower and DeGaulle in jeeps. We were followed by the famous French Republican Guards Band- a huge 250-person organization. Picture in your mind a tiny 21-person army band followed by that humongous aggregation. Well! We agreed that all we could do was to play as loud as we could, literally blow our lungs out. And so we did! Someone took a picture of us (since lost) from a building along the route that shows all of us bent over our instruments playing as if it were the end of days. For me that parade was the most vivid memory I have of my days in Europe, even more than the football game halftime performances.

In a way it was the end of days. The following Monday the band got orders to report to Paris transport where we would be officially dissolved and sent home.

Hook ‘em!
Mel Kusin
LHAB Member
Baritone, ’43-‘45

(President’s Note: Thanks to Mel for sharing this memory. We are looking for stories from our "Greatest Generation" LHAB members- band memories from the World World II era. If you have any memories from this time period that you would like to share, please contact me at cnoonan@austin.utexas.edu)