Category: Band Alumni Association

We hope you can join us for this year’s reunion!

See the tabs on the menu of our website for more information and details!

https://nebandalums.org/registration/

NU Band Alumni,

Registration is coming! We are working on final adjustments to the registration site and we hope to have that up and ready for you within the week!

Changes to be aware of:

• Uniform is now black shorts/pants with a red shirt and any comfortable shoes (no flip flops, please)!
• Post game party will be held at the Student Union this year from 3-6 p.m. We are looking into a taco bar!

We are so fortunate to be able to provide some instruments to our alums for reunion weekend. These instruments  are used year after year and require maintenance such as removing dents, oiling slides and valves, replacing/repairing pads, etc. We want to ensure that the instruments remain in good working condition so that each year we have as many available as needed for alums to borrow in order to participate in the marching portion of the reunion weekend.

Currently, we charge $15/rental. On average, we rent 35 instruments per reunion weekend. We went ahead and repaired/cleaned all alumni instruments this summer- thanks, Palmer Music! The total cost of this project was just under $5300. We would like to keep these instruments in good working condition as well as keep the rental cost at $15/instrument. Therefore, we would like to ask you all for additional donations for this substantial cost. You can send a check to us (PO Box 6266 Lincoln, NE 68506) or when you register for reunion weekend, donate in the “other” category and write in “instrument repair fund”. We would greatly appreciate it!

The 2017 Russ Swanson Outstanding Bandsman Award was presented this year to Paige DeDecker! This award was renamed in 2012 in Russ Swanson’s honor. Russ was a french horn player in the marching band and was a part of the 1941 Rose Bowl Band. He was also a WWII veteran serving on an air bomber crew. He was a charter member of the Band Alumni Association in 1974 and was on the board until a little over a year before he died in 2011. He and his wife were dedicated volunteers for activities of the BAA board.

Paige DeDecker is a percussionist from Flower Mound, Texas. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Percussion Performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). She has been in the Cornhusker Marching Band all four years during her time at UNL, and she has had the privilege of being rank leader for the Front Ensemble for three years and the section leader for the Drumline during her senior year.

She has also had the opportunity to perform in UNL’s Wind Ensemble under the direction of Carolyn Barber and Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Dave Hall and Tony Falcone, which most recently performed at the 2016 Percussive Arts Society International Convention as a winner of the International Percussion Ensemble Competition’s Call for Tapes. Paige was also a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum & Bugle Corps Front Ensemble from 2014 to 2016, and the percussion section was the recipient of the Fred Sanford High Percussion Award in 2014 and 2016.

After graduation, Paige will attend graduate school to continue her study with percussion performance, and ultimately, she hopes to perform in a chamber ensemble or work for a nonprofit arts organization.

Congratulations, Paige!

I am writing to thank you for selecting me as a recipient of the Jack R. Snider scholarship. It is such an honor to be chosen for this award, and it means so much to me that I was chosen. The fund will help me with many band-related costs, such as purchasing shoes and gloves, and getting my uniform cleaned. Being a part of the Cornhusker Marching Band is so special to me, and I love being able to carry on traditions from years ago. Band is a family, and I’m so thankful I’m a part of it. Thank you again!

-Rachel Hoffman