If you've ever been to a football game, community event, or even ever driven past the commuter lot on any given afternoon, you've heard us. We're the boldest sound from the oldest town. We are the Lumberjack Marching Band. Honestly, though, we're so much more than drum beats and trumpet solos. Since this wonderful group's establishment, we've been recognized all over the world. As we get ready to take the streets of New York City this Thanksgiving in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we know that God loves us, and you should, too. Because we were established in 1926, here's 26 reason why the Lumberjack Marching Band should be your favorite marching band.
1. God loves us.
We always have the best weather, luck, and people. We are truly blessed.
2. We're preforming in The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The fact that we're going to broadcast on live televisions for millions of people should be reason enough to convince you we're the best band around
3. We were in the 2012 New Year's Parade in London.
Our greatness is recognized and celebrated not only in America, but all over the world.
4. We've been invited to preform at the 2018 St. Patrick's Day parade in Ireland.
We should probably change our name to Pitbull, because we're worldwide.
5. We're huge.
There's almost 400 of us, which is huge, considering our school is not that big. Getting that many people together, in tune, on the buses, ect. is hard, but nothing is too hard for us.
6. We represent all walks of life.
There's someone in the band from almost every major, minor, and background. We are a very diverse group of people, and we embrace and celebrate those differences.
7. We're the home field advantage.
We sit behind the opposing team and give them hell the whole game. Other teams come far and wide to just get annoyed by how "distracting" we are, and that's exactly how we like it.
8. We have a rule in the Southland conference because of us.
Thanks to us, there is now a rule in the Southland Conference rulebook that says you cannot play music while the ball is in the air. However, there's no rule against singing or yelling.
9. Dr. Campo's advice.
You can't have a great organization without a great leader, and Dr. Campo is one of the greatest leaders I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He gives fantastic advice ranging from "listen" to "the greatest decision I've ever made is realizing my wife is smarter than I am." And don't forget the crowd favorite: "Don't show up at the homecoming bonfire drunk."
10. Dr. Campo's school spirit.
It is quite possible that no one at Stephen F. Austin State University bleeds more purple than our own band director, David Campo. He was voted most spirited faulty member, and rightfully so. He has more school spirit in his little toe than most of the school has put together.
11. Dr. Anglley.
There isn't a more perfect person on this planet than Dr. Anglley. She is literally a walking life goal for everyone. There's not a day that I see her and don't wish I was her. If you ever need a strong female role model, she is the exact person you should look toward.
12. This picture of Mr. Allen.
Our director of band, Fred J. Allen, is hilarious and wonderful. I'm just going to leave this picture here.
13. The twirl-o-jacks are hot.
I mean, have you seen them? (Also, PSA: It's twirl-o-jacks, not twirler jacks)
14. The percussion has sweet moves.
Much like in "Napoleon Dynamite," the percussion section really knows how to get down. Come to spirit rock before every game if you want to know what I'm talking about.
15. The guard has beautiful choreography.
The guard does some truly breathtaking things while on the field. They even spin axe handles.
16. We have the best feature twirler around.
She's won numerous awards, including but not limited to Collegiate Miss Majorette (that's a big deal in the twirling world. Who am I kidding, she's a big deal in the twirling world).
17. We have fantastic service organizations.
Kappa Kappa Psi, Mu Phi Epsilon, Phi Boota Roota, Phi Mu Alpha, Phi Rho Psi, and Tau Beta Sigma all do so much to help the band and the music world.
18. We have an organization started at SFA.
Beta Gamma Omega, or BrO, was founded right here at Stephen F. Austin State University not too long ago. This year, BrO had the largest rushed class of all the music fraternities, and they work extremely hard to preserve fine arts in all public high schools.
19. We have our own announcer.
Kevin Kelley, AKA the Purple Pipes of the LMB, announces us at every pre-game and halftime performance we have.
20. We work hard.
Every day, we put in the time and effort to make this organization great. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't strive to be better than we were the day before.
21. We don't just bleed purple, we sweat it.
We put everything we have into better this organization and our university. Our blood, sweat, and tears are purple.
22. We know our job and do our job.
We're not gizmos, we don't just go through the motions.
23. We had the cutest proposal ever.
Jonathan Aviles and Hannah Carroll met while in LMB and got engaged during the halftime show at Homer Bryce Stadium. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when he got down and asked her to be his wife. Who knows, maybe your soulmate is in the LMB right now.
24. We're on the acceptance letter
It's obvious that you would showcase the best you have to offer when you're accepting people into anything, so of course, we are on the acceptance letter.
25. We're a family.
The long hours we put in only bring us all closer together. We're one big, diverse, sometimes dysfunction family that anyone would be blessed to be a part of.
26. We're mentioned in the school song.
Well, maybe not. But the school song does say "happy memories," and that's all you have when you're with the LMB.
I could list 400 reasons you should love the Lumberjack Marching Band, and it would just be the names of every person within this amazing organization. Tune in on Thanksgiving Day at 9 a.m., when we show of our hard work to the world.
