The Iowa State Alumni Band celebrated its 45th year with over 350 alumni performing at the Iowa State versus BYU football game on Saturday.
The Alumni Band has persisted because of the family the community has fostered. With over 50 years of alumni coming back each year, there are tons of connections that have formed within the band.
Friday night, before the homecoming game, a party is held for the alumni, giving them the opportunity and time to reconnect with old friends, section members and even family.
Dean Brand, an agriculture education graduate from 1973, has been coming back to play sousaphone in the Alumni Band for many years. His four nephews were also in the Iowa State University Cyclone Football ‘Varsity’ Marching Band (ISUCF’V’MB).
“Even though we don’t live that far away from our family, we don’t see each other that often,” Brand said.
Because the band invites them back each year, it gives the Brand family an opportunity to reconnect and do something they love together.
The band has also created a family within itself. With hundreds of alumni coming back every year to participate in this homecoming tradition, a special bond is formed.
“It’s fun to see folks that we played with or have been friends with for a long time,” Brand said.
The Alumni Band is important to those in it because it allows them to relive a small sample of what used to be a big part of their lives when they were students at Iowa State.
Breanna Kixmiller, president of the Alumni Band and an integrated studio arts major, said, “Getting to continue playing in each year brings back all of these memories from when we did homecoming.”
Kixmiller graduated in 2018 and has come back to play in the Alumni Band every year since.
“I plan on continuing to do it as long as my body lets me,” Kixmiller said.
Having the alumni back also has a special impact on the current students in the ISUCF’V’MB. There’s a lot of pride in being a Cyclone and in performing for the student body. And for the students, being around a group of people who have been in their shoes is a special experience.
Christian Carichner, director of the marching band, said, “It’s really meaningful for the current band to see the alums that still care about this band, still love this band, still want to be a part of this band and make that sacrifice to be here with everybody to perform and relive the glory days.”
With the ISUCF’V’MB reaching its 150th birthday, the marching band has gone through many changes throughout the years.
“We recognize that it’s not the same band from when we were in the band, because it never will be,” Kixmiller said. “But it’s exciting to see what energy and what traditions these students bring to the band and to continue to see it grow.”
751 band members, alumni and students alike, played together during the halftime show Sunday.
