Join the Band!
The following is a letter sent out to all interested first-years. If you didn't get a letter, well, here it is!
Dear Future World Leader,
Congratulations! You are officially invited to join a very special musical group at Williams!
Across the country, there are but a few select musical groups of incredible caliber. They urge you to be the best that you can be by demanding the utmost effort and concentration. This is not one of those groups.
Precision scrambling.
Yes, that's right. We are the one, the only Marching Band in our division (the NESCAC). We are revered by our fans, envied by our enemies (especially the Vile Defectors (Amherst Students) from the Other Valley), and studied carefully by behavioral psychologists. During certain Saturdays in the fall, the football team invites another hapless opponent to our field.
While the football team warms up the crowd we provide moral support through cheers and musical numbers. We then take the field for the Main Attraction as we unleash a musical and verbal Tour de Force that wows the crowd and reaffirms our intellectual superiority. To perform these shows we need talented musicians such as yourself for a wide variety of positions. We need a good strong pep band, so anyone with wind instrument or percussion experience is strongly encouraged to join! In addition to the "standard" marching band instruments (brass, woodwinds, percussion), we also have a plastics section (kazoos, recorders, melodicas), weird percussion (maracas, sleigh bells) and even a double bass on wheels! The band needs YOU!!
How can I join such an elite group, you ask? Simple! Come visit our table at the Purple Key Fair (an event that happens during First Days) and sign up on the list. You will immediately become a part of the only undefeated (and undefeated for over 60 years, mind you) marching band in the NESCAC!
The daunting "Mountains" formation.
In addition, you will receive these additional benefits at no extra cost:
- Free Physical Education Credit!*
- Free bus rides to away games!
- Free lunches at away games!
- Free bus rides back from away games!
- Free exclusive screening of The Blues Brothers at least once per season!
- Free Pixi Stix!
- Free Victory Dinner to celebrate yet another undefeated season!
So what are you waiting for? Dust off that comb and wax paper, start learning the words to "Yard By Yard" (hint: it involves "yard" and "by"), and get ready for an incredible season! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us!
We hope to see you in the fall!
Marco Sanchez '10 (10mps at williams.edu) and Will Harron '11 (wah1 at williams.edu), Student Leaders
Chris Caproni, Director of Marching Band Operations
* The Williams Athletic Department no longer grants PE Credit, despite photographic evidence of the physical rigors of the marching band season. Remember, only the best can be in the Williams College Marching Band.