Historical Photos: 1958 - 1962
That Grand Band Does It Again
 The above headline spanned the front page of The Virginia Tech of January 27, 1961. Below, in the official parade photograph, the Regimental Band passes in review for President J. F. Kennedy in January 1961. The band won top honors for the third successive Inaugural Parade — the last competitive inaugural parade. The class of 62 were juniors. The Washington, D.C., Alumni Club awarded all band members who participated a white service ribbon to wear on their uniforms in recognition of this achievement.
Here are some quotes from an article in that Tech newspaper, written by Jerry Benson (class of 61):
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“The Band and PR's [Pershing Rifles: Did you know that they marched as the representatives of North Dakota?] left Blacksburg Thursday at 12:45 p.m. aboard four buses, but due to the snow were unable to reach Washington before 12 midnight. The buses had to be stopped frequently as the caravan neared Washington so that the cadets aboard could get off and push cars stalled in the snow and, at times, even direct traffic.” [It should be noted that we were not riding on interstate highways. We also had to scrape bus windows frequently and avoid jack-knifed trucks. Do you remember calling ahead to Howard Johnson's to order a couple hundred burgers. They were all cold by the time we got there and some of us did not get ours with the cheese we ordered! Dinner was served at Fort Belvoir after midnight. Those were trying times!] [Click on the photograph below to see a larger, more detailed, but slower loading version.
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“The actual step-off for the Highty-Tighties came after an hour's wait in the 20-degree cold.” [Due to the heavy application of salt, the staging area was awash in slush, leaving many with frozen feet to go with the frozen lips.]
“Reports are that many of the bands were bothered by the unusually fast pace of the parade which featured large signs along the parade route — 'INCREASE SPEED', CLOSE DISTANCE'.” [The article went on to say that we did not quicken our 120 steps per minute, but increased our stride from 30 to 36". Officially it may have been 36", but a few short band members were observed taking an extra shuffle step or two just to keep up, suggesting the stride was probably even longer. Remember misjudging a right-hand turn? We did not fudge the formation with a cart-wheel style turn or by squeezing our ranks, but simply followed our drum major's command and parted the crowd, marching onto the edge of the sidewalk as if there were no obstacles.]
“Tech's Band used four marches in its successful bid for the top prize —King Cotton, National Emblem, Independentia, and Dixie.” [Ah! The days before political correctness! But, which one were we playing when we passed in review in photograph below? Any one remember? Do you remember the college band with the big rolling bass drum that was expected to win? University of Texas! But, they only got an Honorable Mention. Second place actually went to a high school band from Maryland. So, our competition was against all bands.]
“... the supreme compliment came from a high-ranking VMI cadet among the 600 who marched behind the Highty-Tighties and took the prize as the best marching unit — '... the best band we ever marched behind.'”
“Governor Almond summed it up, 'I was never more proud of Virginia.' Needless to say, Virginia and VPI are proud of the Highty-Tighties.”
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The following photos appeared in The Virginia Tech of February, 27, 1961. Left photo, our director Tom Dobyns (who marched in all three inaugural victories) watches as Capt. Jones receives the trophy from the governor. Right photograph shows the band leadership with the trophy.
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