Before the “Pride of Oklahoma” takes part in the Notre Dame vs. University of Oklahoma football game Sept. 28, the Oklahoma Marching Band will perform in Warsaw Sept. 27. The Warsaw Community High School Marching Band will take Fisher Field at the school first at 7:30 p.m. The 300-member Oklahoma band then will perform, and once the UO Sooners band is finished, the WCHS band will join them for a couple of songs. The bands’ performances are free Sept. 27. In case of inclement weather, the bands will play in the Tiger Den. John Elliott organized the Oklahoma Marching Band’s visit. He also organized a visit by the Ohio State Marching Band in 1996 and the Penn State Marching Band in 2006. “I always enjoy our community having the opportunity to see college bands,” Elliott said. In college, Elliott was a member of the Ohio State Marching Band. Local law enforcement will pick up the Sooners at the South Bend airport and provide them a police escort to Warsaw. It will take seven buses and a semi to transport the band, who will stay at Wyndham Gardens. Warsaw Area Career Center students will make and feed the Oklahoma band a “sit-down meal,” Elliott said. According to the Sooners’ website, “Unlike many other college bands, which began as military drill units, the Pride of Oklahoma had its beginnings as a pep band. In the early years of the 1900s, both townspeople of Norman and students of O.U. participated in a band that played for football games. Professor John Merrill started the first band in 1901, which was composed mostly of townspeople and disbanded after each football season. In 1903, Dean Holmberg directed a band at O.U. It was difficult to keep the early bands together after the end of the football season because there wasn't enough money to buy suitable music.” Lloyd Curtis, a cornetist, founded the first continuous student band in 1904. Following Cutis’s departure, the leadership of the band returned to students. James Brill led the band for one year, followed by L. Ansel White. World War I brought a surge of patriotism and militarism to the O.U. campus as well as change to the band program, the website states. A military band was created for the first time, but after 1922 the military band and the university band were separate ensembles. From 1917 to 1927, Oscar J. “Daddy” Lehrer was director of bands at the University of Oklahoma. Other directors during the 1920s continued to improve the band in marching, concert and military performances. By 1929, the band had established enough of a reputation to be invited to perform for a broadcast over WKY radio in Oklahoma City. William R. Wehrend arrived at Oklahoma in 1929 as the first faculty member whose primary responsibility was to direct the band program. A significant development during the Wehrend years was the admission of women into the band program in 1934, much earlier than most other college bands. Wehrend’s bands performed pageantry-style halftime shows at football games, playing popular tunes and marching picture formations on the field. After World War II, the website continues, the Pride continued to perform elaborate halftime shows and participate in events for high school bands across the region. Leonard Haug, director from 1945 to 1962, spent much of his time developing halftime shows centered on themes that would incorporate well-known songs of the day. The success of the Sooner football team in the 1950s provided much publicity for the Pride. The band traveled to several bowl games, appeared on national television, and performed at locations around the state. In spring 1961, the Pride traveled to Washington, D.C., to march in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. The crowd loved the arrangement of "Oklahoma!" and the undeniable spirit of the band. Afterwards, the band received the grand prize as the best overall unit in the 200-unit parade. A significant change in the Pride's performing style came in 1962, when Gene Braught took over the marching band. He changed the style from pageantry to precision marching, although at times he combined the two styles. The 1960s saw increasing criticism of marching bands both from the professional world and from college sports fans. Another change in show style came with another new director in 1971, the website states. Gene “Coach” Thrailkill led a transition to a new show design concentrating on the sound of the band. Marching drill became a tool to present the music to the audience in the front sideline stands and the band began to play a wider range of music, including rock and Broadway show tunes. The band increased in numbers and volume to project music to a larger audience. Thrailkill also included the signature strutting drum major and developed the current pre-game performance. The band traveled to four straight Orange Bowl games in the mid-1980s. The Pride was also awarded the prestigious Sudler Trophy, recognizing the band as one of the top programs in the country.
