Greetings from the Marching Band office! I'm Rick Seiter, and I played alto sax and marched under Ronald P. Socciarelli in the 1973 and 1974 seasons. Currently, I'm the Ohio University band instrument repair technician and your treasurer for the Marching Band Society of Alumni and Friends.

I've been asked to write this article for my up-close, hands-on experience repairing the Marching 110's instruments. Do you remember what a season of practice and performance can do to a trombone? Dance rehearsal on the Convocation Center floor still wreaks havoc on trumpet bells, marching in the rain still does a number on woodwind pads, and, of course, 270's can still be the death of a trombone slide. In short, there's more than enough to keep me busy!

The good news is that we started the 2000 season with 13 new King 4B bass trombones and four King model 2266 four-valve euphoniums. In addition, due to the increase in the size of the band, we are currently receiving quotes for constructing 12 additional uniform cabinets for the equipment room in Peden Stadium. Also, thanks to the generosity of Tau Beta Sigma, we now have our own ice machine installed at Peden.

To help alleviate the issues of wear and tear on Marching 110 instruments, alums often ask me about donating instruments, parts, and other equipment to the Marching Band. If you have items that you wish to donate to the Marching 110, please contact me so that arrangements can be made. Marching 110 Director Richard Suk and I will put any and all items to good use. For example, if you donate a used instrument, we may repair it for playing use or we may use the parts to repair another marching band instrument. If you've got parts to spare, the Marching 110 will put them on the field!

The following is a list of items that we need for future alumni band performances and current Marching 110 use:

Percussion: Carriers for the whole line, straps, mallets, heads, and hardware. Also need 16", 18" and 20" pairs of cymbals.

Brass: Mouthpieces (mello, euphonium, trombone, and tuba), tuba mouthpieces, tuba tuning bits, any parts pertaining to mellos, euphoniums, trombones, and tubas

Woodwinds: Saxophone mouthpieces (alto and tenor), straps, and any other parts pertaining to saxophone.

I'm very excited about this new alumni group. We've put together a great board that will do their best to assist this band. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Rick Seiter
School of Music 321
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701
740.597.2563
seiter@ohio.edu

There will be information added soon about getting tax credit for instrument donations to the OUMBSAF.

From the fall 2000 issue of Cadence