Saturday marks the beginning of the 2017 season for the Ole Miss Rebels. The Grove will be packed, the seats in the stadium will be filled, the crowd will be loud, and the band will be right in the center of the game day experience. “The Pride of the South” shows up every Saturday, and this year will be no different.
Contributing to the booming sounds of the band will be two brand new sousaphones (which is comparable to a tuba for non-music folks out there like me). The sousaphones were donated by Dr. Brett Bartlett, an alumnus of the band, and his mother, Beth Bartlett, who felt inclined to donate the instruments upon hearing that the majority of the sousaphones in use dated back to Brett’s time in the band in the 1980’s.
“My father passed away a few years ago, my mother and father used to give $50 at a time. My mother came to me recently and said ‘I’ve got some money, and I want to help the band out big time.’ To that, I asked ‘how big-time, mom?’,” Bartlett said. “I talked with David, and we decided that buying two new sousaphones is what the band needed because they were still using ones that were there when I was in the band.”
The band uses anywhere from 20-24, and the instruments don’t come cheap. Priced at around $8,000 a piece, the band cannot afford new ones and are hoping that their current ones hold up as the season approaches. David Willson, now in his 27th year as the band’s director, said that they can afford one or two instruments every year, but rising costs and diminishing budgets have taken their toll on the band.
“Most of ours were bought in the 1970’s, if you look at them closely you’ll see hairline cracks because of the metal fatigue,” Willson said. “Budgets are being cut, and the departments are doing what they can to meet their demands, so it’s a situation where it’s no one’s fault, but we have to try and find funds from new sources of funding. The administration provides so much, but there are shortfalls that we have, and I hope that the general fan knows how hard we work and how they can help with just a small donation.”
Those new sources can be anyone, the band has their “Friends of Note” foundation created by Dr. Bartlett and Willson in the mid-90’s to perpetually fund scholarship opportunities, and new equipment for the band which currently consists of 300 students. Band members are typically responsible for buying and maintaining their own instruments and the band struggles to quickly fix broken pieces. As one of the lowest funded bands in the SEC, Willson and Bartlett are doing everything they can to ensure the show goes on without a hitch.
While funding is an important aspect of the band’s needs, Willson hopes that fans recognize the amount of dedication that students put into their performance, and what game day would be without them.
“If I had one wish more than the funding, it would be that people have respect for what band students do,” Willson said. “They’ve been in the band since 6th grade, purchase their own instruments, go to rehearsals in all kinds of weather, endure peer pressure and stick with it. When they get to Ole Miss, they give up their chance to be a regular student on game day to provide fans with a great game day experience.”
Bartlett and his wife, Susan, whom he met during their time in the band, played Tenor saxophone Bartlett returned to Oxford after 25 years away, and his band experience continues to stick with him, and he hopes to continue to assist Willson in any way he can.
“We had been away for 25 years, so we’ve gotten back into it by going to practices, and checking in on a regular basis. We’re here for everything, and that’s allowed us to become more aware of what the situation is,” Bartlett said. “Everyone wants the band in the stadium, in the Grove, and during halftime but they have no idea how much funding, practice and time goes into the process.”
The band began practicing before students came back for classes, and they went from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. The dedication continued as classes began with at least 10 hours of practice each week. Willson recalls his first year as the band’s director and the future for the Pride of the South, with the “Friends of Note” having a goal of $2 million. They are currently resting around $900,000, and Wilson hopes that fans and alumni will value the band for what they bring to Ole Miss.
Willson recalls the first time he felt the value of the band from the alumni back in his third year as the director. When he took over the band had around 140 members and had “low morale”, but it all changed after a fundraising event in Memphis after a pep rally at the Peabody. Willson hopes to find the same generosity as they lean on the Ole Miss community for support.
“We were at a fundraiser at Rendezvous in Memphis, and many of the Memphis Club members were there and interacted with the band in a positive and encouraging way. After that night, the two biggest cynics in the band came to me and said, ‘the alumni really do care about us.’,” Willson recalls. “That is the day we turned the band around.”
Those who wish to contribute to either the Friends of Note scholarship endowment or the new University of Mississippi Marching Band Equipment Fund can contact Denson Hollis at the University of Mississippi Foundation Office or can send a check/donation to the Foundation or the band directly.
Steven Gagliano is the managing editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.
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