Band Trumpets Its 65th Anniversary

The Harvard Band is geared up for a full-scale celebration of its 65th anniversary this weekend, an event that will bring nearly 150 band alumni back to Cambridge for another chance to play with the group.

The commemoration, two years in the planning, will feature a concert this evening in Sanders Theater and an extended half-time show on Saturday.

Band anniversary celebrations are held every 5 years, said Natacha I. Barber '86, assistant manager of the band.

Appearances by former band conductors, who will direct a number of tunes, will highlight the concert, said Band Manager Paul B. O'Brien '86. For the finale, members of the Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble and the Marching Band will crowd onto stage to play Harvard fight songs, he added.

"The roof comes down and everybody cries--It's very Harvard-y," O'Brien said, adding that "if [alumni] can fit on the stage, they get on the stage" to play or sing along.

"It's really the last big link with the traditional rah-rah spirit," O'Brien said.

Tonight's concert will also feature Sam Palifian who will play Big Bertha, the world's largest playable tuba--a prized possession of the Harvard Band.

Alumni will join current band members early Saturday morning as they "block up" for their march through the Square to Harvard Stadium, where they will play an extended half time show.

And though many of the alumni haven't performed for years, O'Brien said he isn't worried that they won't be able to perform adequately.

"I can guarantee you that there will be a number of alumni who haven't seen that music in 20 years and they won't need it," said David S. Green '81, president of the Harvard Band Foundation, the Band's alumni group.

Hunchback

Hon. Alfred V. Covello '54, now a superior court judge in Connecticut who played snare drum for the band, said that alumni shouldn't have too much trouble playing the music because traditional Harvard songs, "never leave you."

Covello, said he will be the "band hunchback" because he is in a cast after falling off his chimney and breaking his back.

"I've kind of sworn to myself ever since I fell off the roof that I'd get there by hook or by crook," he added.

Covello, who has gone to all six of the celebrations since he graduated, said he is particularly looking forward to playing with the band this weekend because his two children, Nancy J. Covello '87 and Timothy J. Covello '85 are also in the band.

Robert W. Snyder '38, a funeral director from Riegelsville. PA, said he wasn't certain whether he would join the band on the field Saturday, adding that he would "see how stiff the drill is."

But Snyder, who was a trumpeter with the band in the late 30's, will be one of several returning student conductors who will direct the band this weekend.

Mom

After the game on Saturday, band members and alumni will join together for a "big smash banquet," said O'Brien. One of the speakers at the banquet will be Alice Tondel, "The Band's Mom," he added.

Tondel, who has been "The Band's Mom" for 35 years, does the band's artwork, helps take care of uniforms and provides moral support. Although she says she's actually 72 years old, band tradition requires that she be officially identified as being 27.

Fight Fiercely

Tom Lehrer '47, the humorous songwriter whose composition "Fight Fiercely Harvard" is a staple of the Band's repertoire, said yesterday that he will not be able to attend the celebration.

But he added that he was pleased that the Band would be playing his song.

"I think it's delightful that something that I sat in my room in Lowell House 38 years ago and worked out is being performed in the hallowed halls of Sanders Theater by a full complement," he said