LONGHORN ALUMNI BAND
MEETING MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 4, 1999
CALL TO ORDER at 6:29pm by President Susan LaRonde (SL) at Hastings Communications.
ALSO ATTENDING: Allan Adelman, president-elect; George Greene (vest and flag expert), Kristin Cupitt, Jenny Griffin, Scott Hendrix, Bill Kaigler, Elizabeth Muenzler, and Tenaya Sunbury, Vice-Presidents; Gay Dodson, Treasurer; Hervey Lazenby, Chaplain; David Carter, Past-President; Bob Purdy, Board of Directors; Scott Harmon, Dallas Area Rep; John Fleming and Scott Hastings, observers.
MINUTES were not taken at the September 1999 meeting due to the secretary’s absence and the Stuffing Party.
NEW FACES: SL asked the attendees to introduce themselves. Welcome to Kristin Cupitt and Elizabeth Muenzler, Vice Presidents in charge of Equipment and Adopt-a-School, respectively.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Gay said there is $34,001.92 in checking and $5,008.24 in savings. Band Day ’99 figures included $16,700 in scholarship donations and an $11,000 debit for tickets to the game. All 404 of them were sold. 788 marched the halftime show. Of these, 700 wore those famous orange vests, with Flags and Tubas abstaining.
BANDAY ’99 POST-MORTEM:
PRE-GAME/PRE-REGISTRATION: Few complaints were garnered about parking or the shuttle buses per SL. Gay said there were 200 plus walk-in registrants. Only problem was tables not being set up at Disch-Falk Field (DFF).
INSTRUMENTS: Allan said one piccolo and one sousaphone are missing. LHB may have the sousaphone. He has the serial numbers and will contact the possessors. There was a problem with instruments being left at the Bertha Doors.
MUSIC: Tenaya proposed moving the music issue from upstairs to the Orchestra Room on Friday night. Problems: Limited space downstairs will most likely keep the music upstairs. Also, no good way to issue music at Denius Field (Banday 2000 rehearsal site). Gay did a great job making directional signs for the band hall.
SPIRIT ITEMS: Jenny said things went well. TBS was a big help on Saturday. Keep sending her the e-mails with suggestions or problems to fix.
FRIDAY NIGHT REHEARSAL: Good, quick and enjoyable was the consensus. Jerry Junkin’s directing gets the credit for this.
BANDAY ’99 POST-MORTEM (CONT.):
BUSINESS MEETING: Went well. LHAB was able to get the Alumni Center’s Connally Room for free. SL will try to reserve it again next year, schedule and availability pending. Bob Purdy thought the meeting worked better without a luncheon.
MARCHING REHEARSAL: Consensus had it as a great one, thanks to John Fleming’s direction. Also helping was playing familiar music. Problem: Some section members (including SL) moved several times until rank numbers solidified.
VESTS/UNIFORMS: Still some problems with marchers wearing "less than black" pants. Solution: Selling black pants at the band hall. Scott Harmon proposed a firm dress code/policy be written into the bi-laws and posted to THE BLAST, the registration form and/or the Banday schedule. Enforcement, although difficult, could be done by the officers or section leaders. Steve Norton proposed/second by Scott Hendrix to table writing of policy until the next meeting.
RADIOS: Scott Hastings said the one missing headset might be at the warehouse. He will repair three radios and clean the remaining five.
SECTION LEADERS: Recruitment was great per Scott Harmon, thanks in part to the BLAST article. Scott complimented John Fleming for running a fast, efficient and professional rehearsal. His positive attitude worked well. Also effective: keeping latecomers from joining ranks and section leaders picking folks to move, then moving them without argument.
SHOW DESIGN: Scott Hastings said staying with traditional tunes helped make a complex show easier. David Carter said LHB has offered to design our shows on their computer (no more hand charting).
FEEDING THE MASSES: Confusion set in per SL, when folks tried to use their lunch tickets for KKY BBQ and vice versa. Allan said KKY could do the BBQ at lunchtime instead to solve this.
PREGAME: SL will send thank you notes to Randall Bass for penning the LHB/LHAB combined music and to the President of Rice University for having THE MOB move their halftime show to pregame. Speaking of…THE MOB is looking for LHAB members to march their upcoming Alumni Show.
MARCHING IN: Problem with kids in the ranks with their parents, causing safety hazards if they fall down and straining relations with the AD (suspecting gate-crashers). Also, The Sports Group kept playing their music on the PA system while the first group marched in. SOLUTIONS: Non-band spouses need to escort kids in to the stands; Identify/mark individuals who will march in and ask others to stay out. Also, write up rules regarding children and spouses in ranks.
BANDAY ’99 POST-MORTEM (CONT.):
GAME SEATING: Problem with too many members and not enough seats. 680 seats were blocked up to Row 18 in Section 32. However, we sold all of our allotted 1,080 tickets. Also, problems with kids in the middle of the band with parents (too loud for little ears), and members grabbing drinks on their way into the stands. David Carter alleviated some of the strain by getting approval to seat 200 on the grassy knoll behind the south end zone. SOLUTIONS: Ante-up to buy more seats from the AD; Allow two seats for each sousaphone player; Brief members with families to sit at the top of the band; Reconfigure the band area to "flatten" it out and move ramps over in front of the aisles, for easier access to the field.
SIDELINES: SL will send a letter of commendation to Officer Mitchell of the APD for his courteous, but firm manner in handling crowd control in the stands. Need to acquire more ladders for the band directors on the field, to help keep tempo during the halftime show.
MARCHING OUT: Too lax on the ranks. Some were six across, some up to 15. Also, kids and parents were in the ranks instead of at the back. Potential Solutions: Quit marching out, with the band being so big; Make more time to organize ranks before marching out; Find out exact times to be on the field for halftime and post game from AD; Have a "Pre-Mortem" before Fri. PM with the section leaders & drum majors to coordinate strategy; Have section leaders in charge of enforcing rank discipline.
TURN IN/CLEAN UP: Band security was lacking. The doors to the choir room were left unlocked. DC appealed for help with clean up/stowing instruments. SOLUTION: Advertise in advance for volunteers (on registration form/in THE BLAST/at the Pre-Mortem).
NEW BUSINESS:
BLAST ARTICLES TO INCLUDE… Thank you note to the section leaders by SL, Area Rep reports, Bill Kaigler with an e-mail and website update (and digital pix from BD ’99!), and Elizabeth Muenzler on Adopt-A-School. E-mail articles to SL NLT 11/1/99.
FALL/WINTER ACTIVITIES: SL will get with Austin Area Rep. George Moxley to schedule a Tower Band date ASAP. Scott Hendrix reported the Austin Texas Exes asked for 25-30 members to play at the Fall Stampede (10/21 @ Austin Music Hall). Scott also mentioned playing in a parade up Congress on 10/22, depending on flatbed trailer availability. Chance of playing at some of the women’s B-Ball games? Stay tuned.
THE FLAGS OF BANDAY ’99: Not enough flags for all those marching. SOLUTION: Bob Purdy suggested using the design from last time to make 12-16 more. POC: Kristin Cupitt.
SILK ITEMS: Some of the newer members complained about not having a Silk section. There’s also a perception they are not welcomed in LHAB. SOLUTIONS: Dispel rumor that Silks aren’t welcomed; Encourage them to organize a section and attend officer meetings.
BANDAY 2K: SL will propose the following in order of preference: OSU on 9/30, Missouri on 10/21 and University of Louisiana/Lafayette on 9/9.
OFFICER MEETINGS: SL prefers to continue meeting on the first Monday of the month, 6:30pm at Hastings Communications. No objections were fielded.
MOTION TO ADJOURN by Scott Harmon, second by Gay. Out at 8:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephen Norton
Secretary