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USF's First Marching Band
by Whitney Glaser, Bullseye, July 1999

The Herd of Thunder (H.O.T.), USF's first marching band, will take the field at this season's football home opener against Southwest Texas State on Sept. 11 (1999). The news of the formation of a USF marching band is music to the ears of fans who felt that a marching band was all that was necessary to complete the college football experience.

The band will perform on the field during pre-game and halftime shows. During the game, they will play in the stands and help lead the fans in cheers and "the wave." Also in the works is a special USF Bulls cheer that marching band director Sid Haton hopes will one day be as synonymous with USF as the Seminole chop and Gator chomp are to fans of Florida State and Florida.

"We have several 'tricks' that we will try based on the idea of a bull stampede," Haton said. "Sort of like the running of the bulls in Pamplona."

To date, the marching band has recruited more than 200 student musicians. Approximately 30 percent of the band's members are current students at South Florida, while the majority will be coming to USF specifically to be part of the band. Summer practices begin on campus in August.

"The response has been absolutely amazing," Haton said. "To give you some perspective, the University of Oregon had 187 members last year, and that school has had a band for the past 100 years. We are already past that number and we haven't even taken the field yet."

Haton, a native of South Carolina, was director of the marching band at Oregon for four years before moving to Tampa in January to serve as director of the USF marching band. Prior to that, he taught music education in public schools in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

He is currently completing his doctorate in music education at the University of Georgia. In addition to his marching band duties at USF, Haton will teach basic conducting in the School of Music.

The South has a tradition of large marching bands, averaging around 400 members, and is known as a region with excellent music education programs, Haton said. What will set the USF Herd of Thunder apart from other bands is its use of color and pageantry as well as an aggressive, avant-grade approach to music and style, he explained.

Ivan Wansley, of the USF School of Music, started recruiting marching band members a year and a half ago. The search was conducted nationwide, and while the band will consist of predominantly Florida residents, student musicians from other states will also be involved.

Student musicians participating in the marching band receive $500 for the fall semester if they are music majors. Non-music majors receive $250. Funding for the band is three-pronged. Money for student stipends is collected from various licensing revenues, including the sale of USF logo merchandise. The USF Athletic Department funds the purchase of instruments and equipment, while salaries for staff are part of the School of Music budget.

In addition to musicians, the band will include a 20 to 30 person auxiliary color guard under the direction of Rick Schuhr. The color guard will utilize flags, rifles, sabres and swing flags to add color and flash to the marching band's performances.

Color guard members recruited so far include students who were members of the color guard at their high schools, according to Schuhr. "I want to have a squad that is experienced and exciting to watch," he said. "Training is everything to me."

Schuhr taught the color guard at Oklahoma State University for five years. He has also taught private and high School groups since 1980. He has been a teacher at Tampa's Bloomingdale High School for the past nine years.

Drum instruction will be provided by Jimmy Newman and music composition will be supervised by John Campese, who works at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Uniforms for the band have been designed and will be received by the school in August. The primary uniform consists of a black hat, a green jacket featuring the USF logo on the left chest, and black pants. Accessories include a cross-chest sash of white fabric with gold piping and a holographic metallic gold sash that will be worn interchangeably to add sparkle and style.

While the marching band initially will not travel with the football team to perform at road games this season, it is scheduled for several exhibition performances outside the Tampa Bay area.

Re-printed with permission.