Issue date: 10/17/05 Section: News

Brian Wills - The Battalion Reunion band members Bob Flocke, left, Class of 1968 and Phil Speer, right, Class of 1957, practice in the Adams Band Room Friday night. Since 1983, the band has performed during one home football game every other year.

As Conway Shaw walked into the Adams Band Room, he entered a place very different than when he was drum major for the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band in 1963.

"One of the biggest changes is the women," Shaw said. "When I was here the school was made up of all men."

Shaw joined about 200 former Aggie band members Saturday for the Texas Aggie Band Association Reunion.

The reunion began with a morning band practice and a chance for former members to visit with old classmates. The former Aggie band members then marched to Kyle Field and gathered in section 100 of the stadium to play music during the A&M versus OSU football game.

Shaw said he enjoys reliving his days in the Aggie Band.

"Once I was coming out of Duncan (Dining Hall) and two freshmen dumped buckets of water over my head," Shaw said. "I ran after them and once I found them, I took them to my dorm. They lived under my bed for a day."

Shaw said that he always wanted to be a drum major at A&M and he would not trade his experiences for anything in the world.

"The band gives you a real sense of camaraderie, a feeling of belonging," he said.

San Antonio resident Rosalie Bolner said she remembers traveling to A&M to see Clifton Bolner, Class of 1949, perform on game days.

"We were very chaperoned," Bolner said. "My dad drove us from San Antonio and people with houses on the edge of campus would invite us to stay with them. They would wait for us to get home. It was all very proper."

Bolner said that in later years the band members made arrangements for their girlfriends to stay on campus.

"The men would double up in their rooms so they could empty out a dorm for the girls," Bolner said. "The facilities weren't what we were used to. There was one room with a lot of shower jets sticking out of the walls. We modest maidens were not accustomed to that."

Mary Jo Powell, former associate director of the Office of University Relations, said former band members began having reunions in 1965, but did not play music at football games during the reunion until 1983.

"They meet every other year," Powell said. "Their largest reunion was in 1994 for the band's 100th anniversary. One thousand former members attended."

Mark Janak, former bandsman and Class of 1978, said he came to the reunion for his father and his son.

"My father was in the class of '44 and my son is in the band now," Janak said. "It's neat to have three generations of Aggie bandsmen in the family."

Janak, who played tenor saxophone while in the band, said he used the alto saxophone his father played in 1944 for Saturday's performance. Janak said at times it was difficult to play songs from the past.

"You recognize the tune, but sometimes the fingers just don't work so well," he said. "When you're playing you need to listen and know when to back off."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools