Band alumni hold on to spirit

Last modified: Saturday, March 6, 2004 9:54 PM CST

Band alumni hold on to spirit

BY CANDICE NOVITZKE THE CHIPPEWA HERALD

Having been one of the first women to play in the University of Wisconsin Badger Band was the last thing on Verene Crane's mind when she saw the band play in Cable, Wis. several years ago.

"That's the first time I've seen how they've changed," Crane said. "It's just fabulous, the director (Michael Leckrone) is just such an imaginative guy."

But in 1944, when she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the band was very different. Crane and the other four women in the band had to remain seated in the stands when the men marched on the fields.

"We (women) just sat and watched them (the Marching Band)," Crane said.

But Crane was happy just being there.

"I didn't care if I marched or not," she said. "Young girls didn't expect an awful lot. Heck, we got to see a great football game for free."

Then-director Raymond Dvorak allowed women into the UW Badger Band beginning in 1939, but prohibited them from marching. When Crane joined the band in the summer of 1944, she knew she was up against a tough director.

"If you made a mistake in Dvorak's band he'd stop the whole band and call you on it," Crane said. "Mr. Dvorak didn't like having girls in the band. He was kind of hard on the girls -- very strict."

Despite the director's toughness, she's thankful that he forced her to strive for the best.

"I think it was a good experience," Crane said. "I learned I could work hard and measure up to somebody's high standards. It was an honor to have Dvorak be our director."

Jerry Daniel of Chippewa Falls was a percussionist in the University of Wisconsin Badger Band in 1935. In high school, he played drums for the Beaver Dam marching band.

Though Daniel loved being in the Badger Band, he decided to quit college and take a job. During the Depression, jobs were hard to find, he said.

One of Daniel's favorite memories is the car-sized Paul Bunyan drum that used to be on the field.

"It was quite a novel thing," he said.

Just because Daniel quit performing with the band, doesn't mean he's lost that Badger spirit. He's been to two of their recent performances, and loves the Badger Band more than ever.

"They're tops in the United States," Daniel said. "It's even for the person not interested in band music, because this is a show. It's really something out of this world."

The band of today

The first women marched in the band in 1974, five years after now-director, Michael Leckrone, took over Dvorak's position. The absence of women from the early years of the Badger Band isn't the only difference from today's band. The University of Wisconsin Marching Band no longer performs military-style.

"Today, they just raise the roof on the place," Crane said. "It isn't just the band -- there's a lot of entertainment along with it."

Chippewa Falls natives Chris Mehls, Erik Bieging and Jason August are current members of the University of Wisconsin Varsity Band. Today the band will perform one of its energetic, Broadway-style shows in Chippewa Falls for the first time. About 160 of its 300 members will be in Chippewa Falls today for the show.

"It's a very entertaining show," August said. "It's not something you just go and sit down and watch -- you can get involved and have a good time."

Many attribute the band's success in part to its director, Michael Leckrone, who developed the extravagant performance style the band is now known.

"Leckrone is just tremendously outstanding. He's probably one of the premier directors of a university band in the United States," Crane said. "I would definitely rate the band number one."

"He's well respected and obviously very good at what he does," August said. "He's very outgoing. He's a fun guy."

The greatness of the band is also possible because members of the band are selected for their ability to be energetic and deliver the right performance every time.

"To be in the band, you don't have to be an outstanding musician, but you do have to be bursting with energy every time you perform," Bieging said. "With all that college life entails, it is not always easy to deliver that energy."

Chris Mehls' father Bill describes the band's performances as "awe inspiring."

"It sends shivers down your spine when you get to see them," Bill Mehls said. "Whether they're doing a concert or just marching on the field, they're perfectionists. There's a tremendous pride factor."

"Back then (in 1935), the band was popular but not like it is today," Daniel said. "It was just another band back in those days -- but today, they're number one"

If you go

What: University of Wisconsin Badger Varsity Band performance

When: 1 p.m. today

Where: Chippewa Falls Senior High School

Tickets: $12

Reach Candice Novitzke at candice.novitzke@lee.net