The band spells "Bob" on the field in honor of director Bob Buckner at the end of a fundraising event in which the group spelled names of major supporters on the field
In 30-something degree temperatures on Friday, Dec. 17, the members of the Western Carolina University Pride of the Mountains Marching Band spelled 24 names on the field in two hours as part of a fundraiser. Photographs of the band in name formations, which honored band supporters who gave $1,000 or more toward the $640,000 cost of the trip, will be given to participating donors (whose gifts all together totaled about $60,000).
The session lasted two hours, although it took 36 hours to chart the positions of each band member for the names, said director Bob Buckner. For the last photo, the students surprised director Bob Buckner by spelling his name “Bob” between the year he came to WCU (1991) and his last year at WCU (2011). Buckner told the band light-heartedly that was one name they had better spell right.
A few photos from the morning’s event are posted on the WCU Flickr site.
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” –Voltaire
This shows how much the band members truly appreciate the support of their benfactors. Thank you for sharing this inspiring story and reminding us how important it is to say thank you.
Awesome!!! I would have spelled the word, “HERO” !
As the boy in the Disney World commercial said, “I’m too exCITED to sleep!” I, too, am so excited as I follow the progress of WCU’s Pride of the Mountains marching band!! Without a doubt, we’ll be watching the parade from here … proudly! God bless!
Bob Buckner makes such an impact on so many people! I was there in ’91 and have followed he and WCU since. Bob teaches and in turn we teach.