Volume 9, Number 1, 1999

Ladies and gentlemen:
The University of Delaware Marching Band!

This year, the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band, a regular half-time feature at UD football games for more than 50 years, has a record membership of 303 instrumentalists. Laura Overturf, AS ’99, staff assistant in the Office of Public Relations, picked no ordinary Saturday to write a behind-the-scene story on the Marching Band. It was Band Day, the annual event that brings UD’s band with eight area high school bands–for a total of more than 1,000 musicians–to Delaware Stadium. And, the football contest was against West Chester University, a long-time musical rival of the Fightin’ Blue Hens.

Saturday, Sept. 18

Early morning

7 a.m.— It is Saturday morning; the last thing I want to do is get up and shower. But, I can hear the drum roll echo down Elkton Road and I know that it sounds for me. Today is my day with UD’s band. I peel myself out of my warm bed and get ready for my day-long adventure.

7:30 a.m.— I find the band practicing on the field just behind UD’s Outdoor Pool. The members’ uniforms are packed in garment bags and thrown lazily over the fence. The musicians’ faces look as tired as mine.

8 a.m.— The UD band practices separately from the eight high school bands that are here to participate in Band Day. I mix in with the UD band, which boasts 303 members this year—the largest group in its history.

9:30 a.m.— The nine bands come together to practice the selections they will play together during the game and at halftime. UD Band Director Heidi Sarver takes a perch on a bright yellow Ryder truck to direct the 1,000-plus musicians who begin to play in unison. It is amazing to me how easy this effort seems to them. “If you were to analyze all that we wish to accomplish each year,” Sarver adds, “you would say it is an impossible task.” The secret to success, she says, is to keep keyed into the goals. “Every single student and staff member understands the tasks in front of them, as well as the goals. When everyone focuses on his or her responsibilities, it makes life easy.”

9:45 a.m.— Senior Drum Major Michael Pollock, who is serving his fourth term in the sought-after position, informs me that he arrived at 6 a.m. to place the extra band yard markers on the football field. Since I arrived later, I decide to keep my yawns to myself. Rising early isn’t an issue for Pollock, though, when he sees the effect the band has on the fans. “I love to perform,” Pollack says. “The audience reaction is great.”

10 a.m.— While the actual show is hours away, the rehearsal time is Sarver’s chance to perform. She paces on top on the truck and speaks through a microphone headset. She manages to crack some jokes in between her directions. Today is an important day for her, she explains. Having all of these high school musicians to the University is an excellent recruitment method. “Band Day is a perfect chance to show the high school musicians what Delaware is all about,” Sarver says.

10:15 a.m.— The bands play “Hey, Baby,” one of the songs they will present at halftime. But, in the middle of the song, Sarver unexpectedly drops down the roof of the truck and begins doing push-ups. The bands laugh and count to 10 aloud. “She messed up,” Pollock explains, with a chuckle. It is very clear that the band members like Sarver very much.

10:45 a.m. — As the bands break up into their separate groups, Sarver speaks to her UD band about the controlled chaos called Band Day. “Do whatever you can possibly do to keep your heads together today, particularly in the stands,” she says. “You need to gun it today. The Purple and Gold is out there somewhere.” She refers to West Chester University’s band as a spy would talk about an enemy. “I like to make it competitive,” she explains. Seating assignments are handed out verbally and the director, who also is an assistant professor in the music department, climbs down from her post.

11 a.m.— Sarver is having a “dining disaster.” The food for the 303 musicians has not arrived and they were supposed to begin eating in 30 minutes to remain on the tight schedule. Everything could be thrown off kilter from this point if the matter is not resolved. She dismisses the players and rushes over in her little black car to the Bob Carpenter Sports/ Convocation Center, where UD’s band will dine.

11:05 a.m.— The food has arrived and Sarver is relieved. The band has 40 minutes to relax and eat their packaged meals on the floor and in the stands of the Carpenter Center. “Feeding 300 people carries an exorbitant price tag,” she says. “But, they must eat!”

11:45 a.m.— The band members begin to dress. The 38 color-guard members change into their velvet outfits, as the musicians pull on their polyester-based pants and shirts. I begin to feel like I don’t belong. Pollock passes by in his white drum major uniform, looking official. “We step off in 10 minutes,” he shouts to the crowd.

Pre-game

11:55 a.m.— UD’s Marching Band lines up behind Delaware Stadium. A flute player frowns, dreading the heat that is already making her sweat.

Noon — Sarver reappears wearing a black blazer, instead of the warm-up pants and T-shirt she wore at the rehearsals. She has retired the headset and carries a walkie-talkie instead. Pollock blows his whistle and the band begins marking time, hundreds of feet move up and down in place. Surprisingly, Sarver looks more relaxed than at practice. “Drum majors are extraordinarily important to the success of the program,” she says. “Once the band take the field, there’s not a whole lot I, or the rest of our professional staff, can do if the band gets into trouble. The performance lies in the hand of the performers and is guided by the drum majors. In essence, they are my right and left arms.”

12:05 p.m.— The whistle blows three concise times and the band members let out a synchronized “HUH!” They stand at attention with their arms held tightly at their sides and heads facing front. The whistle signals once again, and the band begins its trek around the parking lot. The drum sound bounces like gunshots off the concrete walls outside the stadium.

12:08 p.m.— The white feathers on top of their hats bounce as the band is signaled to stop in front of the UD Hen House. While Pollock conducts with swift, sharp ticks of his wrist, the other drum majors follow along. I can actually feel and hear the enthusiasm of the fans in their cheers.

12:10 p.m.— The whistle blows and the trip resumes. One fan pretends to play a trombone. The trombone members seem amused. Near the corner of the Delaware Field House someone from the brass section barks, “DELAWARE!” and the 303 members boom in response, “BLUE HENS!”

12:25 p.m.— When the band stops in front of the Touchdown Club’s tailgate in front of the stadium, Pollock hops up on a truck that is decorated like a bandstand. The Fight Song is played once again. This group is the most enthusiastic and the fans in this section clearly look forward to the band’s arrival. Sarver says that the band’s size this year surprises some veteran football fans. “I love to see the faces of the football fans as the band marches by, and marches by, and marches by,” she says. “We really are pretty big.”

12:30 p.m.— The band enters the underbelly of the stadium. I follow along next to the drums as they march down what looks like a runway. The fans line up on either side of the band and clap along. This part of the pre-game trip is more energizing than I had imagined.

12:35 p.m.— The announcer introduces the band as it makes its way onto the field, lining up by the markers that Pollock set during the morning. “PLEASE WELCOME,” the announcer says, “The PRIDE OF DELAWARE, THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE FIGHTIN’ BLUE HEN MARCHING BAND.” The music begins and the fans in the stands clap along.

12:45 p.m.— Anticipation is building. The band forms two rows on either side of the stadium entrance. The cheerleaders give voice to the band’s musical energy. The high school bands, which are already seated in the stands, cheer for UD’s band. The football team makes its way into the stadium. The band plays proudly as the players run through the mass of blue and gold musicians.

Kickoff

1:10 p.m. — The game begins and the band makes its way into reserved seating on the 20-yard line. Everything has to be so well orchestrated with a group this big, from the early morning practice to the seating and eating. Sarver says the size of this year’s band is a challenge but also gives her options to play with. “The advantage to having a marching band with a membership of 300 is that we can do just about anything we want to do, from a musical and creative point of view,” she says. “We face very few limitations that others who are bigger or smaller must deal with. We have the power a smaller band lacks, and we have the mobility on the performance field that larger bands simply cannot have due to the amount of space they take up.”

1:50 p.m.— Sarver leaves at the beginning of the second quarter to prepare for the halftime show. UD band members shout across to the West Chester band after they complete a song. “Take that,” one drummer bellows. When the Delaware Fight Song is played back to them from the West Chester band, the musicians surrounding me turn their backs, pretending not to listen.

1:55 p.m.— The stands empty as the eight high school bands and UD unit all leave for warm-ups.

Halftime

2:20 p.m.— Delaware’s band enters the field and plays Nuttville. I watch in amazement. The preparation time for such a performance would seem to take so much longer than it did. With only three-and-a-half days in the summer and six hours of practice a week, Sarver and the players are able to put on a weekly show for the crowd of 19,260.

3 p.m.— After returning to the stands, I spend the second half with the UD musicians. I feel proud of them as the high school bands mingle in with Delaware’s group, a feeling which Sarver says she gets after each performance. “I feel really great when I see the kids smile after a show,” she says. “They know they played well and it feels good to see that. It’s all about having fun.”

Postgame

3:50 p.m.— West Chester’s band performs the first postgame show and the Delaware band listens attentively.

4:10 p.m.— Delaware fans cheer in appreciation, along with UD’s band, for a job well-done by the West Chester Rams.

4:20 p.m.— Delaware begins its performance. Pollock takes center stage once again and directs the musicians.

5 p.m.— The performance and Band Day are over and the musicians begin to return their instruments to their cases. They mix in with the fans as they leave the stadium parking lot. Being part of the band, Sarver says, is about more than just playing music. “The most important goal, from my standpoint, is for the students to learn skills that they can use throughout their life, regardless of their career choices,” she says. “It’s about music and motion, a very unique art form, but it is also about teamwork, communication skills, organizational skills, problem solving and, frankly, growing as a person.”

–Laura Overturf

Quick facts about UD Fightin’ Blue Hen Marching Band: