*Note...all the traditions cannot be fully revealed because of solemn secrecy and respect for their creators.
~The Pukin' Toucan~
~MELON BUDDY~
*The Ode To the Melon Head.*
Melon Buddy is the most secretive tradition...it was written by NAT HUETTNER to the melody of the Ode to Joy. It is a song we sing before every competition and the last football game. (As well as with the previous year's seniors at band camp.) That's all i am going to disclose.
Ralph is a small, stuffed, beanie toucan that is pukin. Thus the nickname "Ralph". The Puckin' Toucan, as he is fondly known among the low brass members, is Lupe's faithful pet. Lupe is a former Low Brass member on the Trombone. Ralph was carried by Lupe at the first and last football games and to all the band competitions in between. Before we perform, we all have to kiss Ralph's barf. Lupe would then carry Ralph in her jacket pocket and hold him up high when we won a competition.
When Lupe graduated, she passed Ralph on to Tim, who was then the section leader. She joined Rob Leib and Jessie DeLong in passing on the Low Brass's traditions to their under classmen, Tim Rohrer, Jessie McLucas, Eric Group, and Matt Naylor as Joe Huettner, the only senior trombonist, stood by, listening intently.
Ralph was carried proudly in turn by each trombonist in memory of their graduated upperclassmen.
Ralph now lives in Tim's trombone locker, and has a decoy/twin that lives in Jessie's locker to discourage any thievery by the woodwinds.
~THE WAVE~
*A bit of Trombone Boredom*
Yes...this is what happens when the trombones get bored.../\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\the WAVE! That's right. At a practice before chapters, we the trombones got severely bored as the instructors worked with the rest of the band. So we started doing a four person wave with our trombones. And when Joe laughed from the podium, we incorporated the baritones into our fun:) Soon enough we had a full-section wave going back and forth when I remembered a trick i once learned from a jester at a Renaissance Fair...the FINGER WAVE. I showed Eric and we did it together, then Jami, a clarinet, joined us, and then Matt and Tim. And we had a trombone section finger wave with a clarinet:) It's all good.
Well, at Chapters, we taught Joe and did the finger wave in a circle, and we all laughed at the cool new trick we've learned:) And we did it at ACCs as well...now it's a regular thing and we do it whenever there is more than two of us around:)
Just to be silly....
~CAMPBELL'S TOMATO SOUP~
*A Few Wise Words*
Well, as I hear it, Nat Huettner, at the time he was the low brass instructor, told the section that a perfect note is like a can of tomato soup. When you hold it sideways, it's straight and smooth on the inside. And on the ends, it's round...like a round tone. Thus, the perfect note.
In the '97 season, there were some unity problems with the section. So Rob Leib made charms for everyone in the section out of the Campbell's Tomato soup label. Each peice was a triangle and formed a circle when they were all put together. Thus, creating unity in within the section. So the Campbell's Soup can not only represents the perfect note, but is also our symbol of unity.
Ever since then, there have been no problems with the section and it's unity:)
~ROW BLASS~
*a play on words...*
Well, Following tradition at competitions and the first and last football games, we do a sort of cheer after the seniors/section leader gives a bit of a pep talk. We all put our hands in and shout "ROW BLASS!!!" followed by sounds and yelling of any sort we please, as a way to finish off the pep talk. We're usually the last ones to line up:)
(also, as Joe and Rob would say. "It a play of words. It's a sort of racist joke, but we don't mean it that way. (Yes we do-Rob)")
