Greetings fellow Alumni Band members!

We hope each of you had a fun-filled holiday season. We also wish each and every one of you health and happiness in 2023.  

Past Events

Homecoming 2022 is in the books! We had a wonderful turnout for the parade and party on Friday night and then Saturday morning for the performance of pregame with The Pride of West Virginia. Members were able to socialize with old friends and enjoy a great buffet from Vice Versa. The Pride of WV pep band stopped by to treat members to a few tunes at the party. Saturday was a new adventure with registration and rehearsal being held at Mountaineer Field. Members enjoyed a light breakfast and lunch from Apple Annie’s before the game with TCU. Members were able to relive their college days by marching with The Pride down Law School Hill and entering the tunnels for pregame.

The year was also a grand celebration of 50 years of women in the band! Festivities kicked off with Angelia Barnett and John Sinsel, accompanied by 1972 Pride member Cindi Shockey, receiving a proclamation celebrating 50 years of women in the band, from Commissioner Tom Bloom of the Monongalia County Commission. The women returning for the weekend participated in the Friday parade and party activities. The class of 1972 women received the Outstanding Alumni Award for 2022 during our annual meeting. These women also received special recognition during the game on Saturday from WVU. Those attending included: Angie Arnold Bowman, Jill Cochran, Joyce Minyard Dawley, Coral Lea Naggy Totten (all part of the Dirty Dozen, attending band camp the first year). Also attending was Eileen Smith Dallabrida and Alcinda "Cindy" Trickett Shockey who joined the band right after band camp in 1972. Thank you ladies for paving the way for women in the band!   

After the practice with The Pride on Saturday morning, the 2022 annual WVU Alumni Band, Inc. meeting was held at the tunnel entrance to the stadium. The following are highlights from the meeting:

• The President, Mary Lechliter-King, gave an update about activities since the 2021 annual meeting. This included membership meeting information from the past year, updates concerning The Pride picnic during band camp, a reminder that the Alumni Band needs people to help on numerous committees, and the fundraising efforts of the Alumni Band to help The Pride of West Virginia.
• Ellen Ramey was announced as our Outstanding Alumni recipient for 2021. Congratulations, Ellen!
• Catherine Slawson was the winner of the WVU Alumni Association Lifetime Membership. Congratulations, Catherine!
• An update to the makeup of the Alumni Band board was discussed and approved by the membership. The board will then select the officers for the Alumni Band.
• It was also discussed that the Alumni Band is looking to integrate better with the Alumni Association as well as upcoming events for the rest of 2022 and into 2023.
• 2022-2023 Officers and Board of Directors.

President - John Sinsel

Vice President - Al Hall

Secretary - Hope Poole

Treasurer - Theresa Smith

Board Member/Website/Membership - Sarah Bennett-Harper

Board Member/Past President - Mary Lechliter-King

Board Member - Angelia Barnett

Board Member - Jeff Caplinger

Board Member - Scott Mahaney

Board Member - Dave O’Neal

Board Member - Ellen Ramey

Board Member - Sean Sawyer

Upcoming Events

1. February Membership Meeting - Members are invited to attend our February meeting, Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 7:00pm. Registration information will be provided around January 22, 2023 to those with a 2023 membership (more information about 2023 memberships below).

2. St. Patrick's Day Parade in Pittsburgh, PA - The event is scheduled for March 11, 2023. At this time, we plan to participate. To register and for more information about the parade, please visit the website.    

3. Gold-Blue Game – Waiting on the date from WVU Athletics.

4. World Association of Marching Show Bands 2023 World      Championships – Grand Feature Parade of Nations participation, Saturday, July 22, 2023. This week-long event is being held in Buckhannon, WV. More than twenty-three countries will be represented. Information will be released soon about how you can participate in this event.

5. The Pride Band Camp Picnic – date TBD

6. Fundraising Events Supporting The Pride – dates TBD

2023 Membership Dues 

With all these exciting events coming up (and a lot more on the way), its that time of year again to renew your membership for 2023 and be a part of everything the Alumni Band has planned and will be planning in the future. Membership renewal for 2023 will be processed as an "Event" from our website. Starting today, you can go to the website to process your payment. You will find the 2023 membership renewal under the “Membership Payment and Event Registration Portal” tab or on the homepage under Upcoming Events. Membership dues are $40.00. However, if you pay your dues by March 31^st, an early bird discount will apply, and the dues payment will be $25.00. The earlier you pay your dues, the more you can enjoy the events that the Alumni Band has to offer.  

We rely on membership dues to pay for our general operating costs, such as fees for the storage unit, insurance, website, and office supplies. As a reminder, any event fees that the Alumni Band takes in for events like Homecoming only pay for that event and do not fund our general operating costs.

We are moving toward a fully electronic payment system for dues and events.  However, if you need to pay by check, please see the mailing address below. If you have any questions while processing your membership, please contact Sarah at Webmaster@wvualumniband.org. If you have questions about your payment, please contact Theresa at TheresaSmith@wvualumniband.org. 

We really rely on you, our members, to keep this organization going while continuing to provide support to the Pride of West Virginia in all its endeavors. Please consider renewing your membership by March 31^st if you are a current member and if you’re not a member, come join us and see what we have in store for 2023.

Committees

A committee member application form is now available on the website in the member only section (Committee Form). After paying your membership dues, please take some time to complete the application if you are interested in serving on any of our committees for 2023.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@wvualumniband.org. Stay safe and Let’s Go Mountaineers!

Sincerely,

Officers and Board of Directors, WVU Alumni Band Inc., 2022-2023

WVU Alumni Band, Inc.

WVU Alumni Association

PO Box 4269

Morgantown, WV 26504

Six new board members were elected during the organizations annual meeting October 29th. Please welcome Jeff Caplinger, Al Hall, Scott Mahaney, Ellen Ramey, Sean Sawyer, and Theresa Smith. 

We have been invited by Dr. Williams and The Pride to spend Homecoming Game Day shadowing them from practice through pre-game! Please read this entire email so you do not miss several important updates concerning Homecoming Weekend 2022.

Game Day

WVU Athletics is graciously working with the Band Office and our Board of Directors to accommodate us spending the day with The Pride and all of our game day activities. Some game day highlights include:

• Limited number of parking passes near the stadium. Carpooling will be encouraged.
• Registration in the Indoor Practice Facility (IPF), located directly behind the stadium across from the Press Box tunnel.
• Combined pre-game show rehearsal at Mountaineer Field.
• Joining The Pride on Law School Hill and marching as a unit with them to the tunnels.
• Playing in the stands! This year we will be bringing our instruments back to our seats so we can play some of our pre-game music during the game.

Only those registered to march pre-game will be allowed to enter the facility for practice. You must have your wristband and personal ticket/ticket lanyard for entry. If you have a pre-teen/teen with you as your guest, please let us know ASAP at info@wvualumniband.org.

Details are being worked out with the Band Office and a formal schedule with game day details is forthcoming. All updates for the weekend will be sent out by email and also available under the tab Homecoming 2022 at the website.

After Homecoming, WVU Athletics, the Band Office and our Board of Directors will meet to discuss how the day turns out this year to determine if this is something that can continue in the future. WVU Athletics and the Band Office have made it very clear that our alcohol policy applies to all of the facilities we enter (i.e., Mountaineer Field, IPF) for rehearsal, registration, annual meeting, and pre-game. The success of the day will determine future game day activities spent with The Pride.

Additional Guest Ticket

If you would like to purchase an additional guest ticket for the game, you may do so by emailing Sarah at Webmaster@wvualumniband.org. Guest tickets are $70.

Parade Time Change

Parade time step-off is 6:00pm. This time change is due to the high school MoHawk Bowl held Friday evening.

Rental Equipment

If you are in need of rental equipment, you must have your reservation in by Friday, October 21, 2022. Please email John at Equipment@wvualumniband.org with any questions you may have.

Let’s Go Mountaineers!

We have WVU Alumni Band, Inc merchandise for sale.  All orders must be placed by midnight Sunday, October 9, 2022.  

Please see link below.

WVU Alumni Band Apparel Order Form

The August membership meeting is being held virtually (via Zoom) on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 7:00PM.  This is a member-only event for those that paid their 2022 dues. You must RSVP in order to participate. Please click here to register.

Zoom credentials will be sent to registered dues paid members on Monday, August 15, 2022.  We hope to see you there!

Hello fellow band alumni, 

As most of you know, the WVU Alumni Band has been sponsoring more activities and funding needs in support of the members of The Pride over the past few years. These activities have included the band picnic, the band banquet, and senior day, to name a few. This year we would like to provide a $10 gift card to a local Morgantown restaurant for each band member during the annual band picnic.

This past week, members of the TBT pep band have generously donated $340 for this cause covering 34 gift cards (Snare, Tenors, Cymbals, and two Twirlers). Four members individually donated funds to cover their former sections (Alto Saxes, Tenor Saxes, and Baritones).

We are asking our former alumni to help support this effort. Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated. Even if your section is already covered, please consider donating so some of the uncovered sections can receive a gift card too. I have asked a lot of restaurants to help out, but I haven't gotten very far with any of them. Unfortunately, almost all the support the band gets comes from you, our alumni.

The sections that still need covered are as follows:

• Twirlers           2
• Piccolo          24
• Trombone     31
• Clarinet         25
• Trumpet        51
• Mellophone   14
• Tuba             22
• Color guard  32
• Drum majors  4

TOTAL CARDS STILL NEEDED – 205 ($2,050)

Sections that have been paid for include:

• Alto sax        27 – Paid for by an alumni member.
• Tenor sax     25 – Paid for by an alumni member.
• Baritone        12 – Paid for by two alumni members.
• Snare            10 – Paid for by TBT members.
• Tenors            5 – Paid for by TBT members.
• Bass drums    7 – Paid for by TBT members.
• Cymbals       10 – Paid for by TBT members.
• Twirlers           2 – Paid for by TBT members.

If you have already made a donation for the picnic to help offset the cost of the supplies, we thank you! We are still accepting donations for the picnic. You can donate to the picnic and gift card fund by going to our Contribute page. Please write in “Picnic” or “Gift Card” in the comment box on the donation form so we know where to allocate your donation.

Thank you for your continued support of The Pride!

Sincerely,

David O’Neal

Corresponding Secretary, Band Picnic Chair

This month, several of our members provided stand tunes for our Best Virginia team at a scrimmage in Fairmont, WV and the TBT in Charleston, WV. Lots of reports from those attending about the awesome time they had. You can check out some of the highlights from these two events and others this year at our website. Many thanks to our members and members of The Pride for participating in these awesome events!

We have lots of activities for you to participate in over the next few months!

Pride Picnic

Tuesday, August 9^th is the annual Pride picnic sponsored by the WVU Alumni Band. If you are able to provide a monetary donation to help offset the cost of the picnic, it would be greatly appreciated. Please go to our Contribute page to donate.

If you would like to help with the picnic, please sign up here so we know how many people we will have to assist. We look forward to a great evening with The Pride!

Pep Band Events

• Pep Band members are needed for the Mountaineer Main Street event in St. Albans, WV on Saturday, August 27^th. Time of our performance is still being worked out with the event organizers. If you are interested in participating, please register here.

There will be live music from 4-10pm and over 60 vendors participating. They will have prizes all day that include gas cards, WVU home game tickets and more.

• Pep Band members are needed for WVU Cleft Craniofacial Center patient and clinic staff picnic at Dorsey’s Knob Park, in Morgantown, WV. The event will be on Saturday afternoon, September 24, 2022. This group had us play for them in 2019 and are excited to have us back. More information to come about the performance time. If you are interested in participating, please register here.

Homecoming 2022

Information about homecoming will be sent out in August. Be on the lookout for more information next month.

Let's Go Mountaineers!

Date: Saturday, August 6, 2022

Time: 6:00 - 10:00pm

Location: The Erickson Alumni Center - 1 Alumni Drive, Morgantown, WV 26506

Tickets: $100 per person (21 and over) available at Eventbrite.

Hotel Block: Holiday Inn, Pineview Drive, Morgantown, WV 26505. Use Group Code BAN. Rooms available through July 15, 2022.

*Attire is business casual or come dressed as a favorite character from the Great Gatsby.

**Casino games are for entertainment purposes only. No cash or prizes will be exchanged or awarded.

The WVU Alumni Band has been invited to play for the Best Virginia team in the 2022 Fairmont, WV scrimmage and the Charleston, WV TBT Basketball Tournament. Registration is required in order to participate at both events. Below are some highlights concerning the scrimmage and the tournament.

Fairmont, WV Scrimmage

• Date & Venue - July 16, 2022 at The Feaster Center on the campus of Fairmont State University. Tipoff is at 6:00pm. Call time for rehearsal and setup is 4:45pm. 
• Muriale's - There will be an opportunity to gather at Muriale's prior to the event for a late afternoon lunch. 

Charleston, WV Tournament

• Date & Venue - The first game will be held on July 24, 2022 at the Charleston Civic Center. Tipoff is at 7pm against Virginia Dream. Report time for pep band members will be 5:45pm. Please enter the facility via the loading dock. If Best Virginia advances, performances will be held on July 26th and 27th.

Registration/Deadlines

• Please go to our TBT Tournament page to register. The registration deadline is Noon on July 5, 2022 for the Fairmont scrimmage and Noon on July 15, 2022 for the Charleston Tournament. 

• Both events are FREE for those participating in the pep band. Guests are welcome to purchase a ticket at the door for the Fairmont event and in advance for the Charleston tournament. Guests will be seated with the general public. Non-pep band members will not be permitted in the music area. 

For more information and to register for the events, please visit our website. Ellen Ramey is in charge of this event. If you have any questions, please reach out to her at info@wvualumniband.org.

Let's Go Mountaineers!