By Ashlyn Armock, Arts Editor
The Aquinas athletic band began its first of many alumni athletic band performances on Feb. 7 during the women’s basketball game and the men’s basketball game both against Lourdes.
The entire A-band plus alumni gathered on the stands – Photo by Ashlyn Armock
Director of the athletic bands Ted Craig, mentioned that alumni days were something that he used to do when he worked at Grand Valley. “We had alumni day with the marching band there, and I’ve always wanted to do it here,” Craig said. “This was the first year I seemed right to do it. This is my eighth year, and I extended it to everybody that was in the band that I started. I wanted the originals to come back.” Craig said that in total around 12 graduates came back to play with the band.
The day first started with a social with all the alumni and current students involved with the band. “We just had it in Sturris and got to see everybody,” sophomore and current member of the A-band Eliana Mandarano said. “It [was] fun, and we’re gonna do the alumni event every year now.”
Students and alumni gathered in sturrus for the social – Photo by Nevah Porter
After the social, the band first played for the women’s basketball senior day game. Reid May, freshman and member of the A-band, thought that the first game was especially enjoyable.
“Just yelling at the referee in the first game was really fun,” Reid said. “And it’s a nice experience having a fuller sound with more instruments.”
Recent graduate Lindsay Harvell talked about how nice it was that the women won. “A lot of people were here and everyone was cheering, so it was a lot of fun,” Harvell said.
After the women’s basketball team won their game, the A-band then played for the men’s game later in the afternoon. For the A-band, this meant playing more of their favorite tunes.
“I really love uprising and pretenders, those are my favorite,” Harvell said. And Toxic is a lot of fun too.”
Students and alumni playing together during the men’s game – Photo by Ashlyn Armock
“Everybody had fun, including the alumni,” Craig said. Despite thinking that the alumni would only stay for the first game, “some [were] still playing in the second game, which [was] kind of cool,” said Craig.
The A-band hopes to continue with an annual alumni game, creating a tradition for past and future students alike.
The Saint 