Coach Ash and the Band

[mr leslie]

Sometimes I miss stuff and maybe it's on the board somewhere....but can this be true??? I heard today Coach Ash gave $20,000+ from his Nat'l Coach of the Year Award to help establish an endowment for the band!! If so, that is just stunning!
Early in the going I heard grumblings about Coah Ash's low key style of coaching. There's another coach from the mid-west (Nebraska) named Tom Osborne who had the same type of "low key", practical, high quality, decent, dedicated, intelligent, WINNING style. Coach Ash reminds me of him. We are fortunate to have this guy...on so many levels!!

[SaxCat]

The alumni publication had an article about it. He's helping to jump start an effort to start an endowment for the band as a way to help recruitment through improved scholarships and upgrade uniforms and equipment. It says that those interested in contributing should contact Moira Keshishian 994-2053 or at mkeshishian@montana.edu

And as an alum of the band, thank you Coach!

[TomCat88]

That's excellent news. A college football game with a great band makes a huge game day difference. The sound of the Spirit of the West is great, but needs at least twice the numbers it has. I remember in the early 2000s we had the Bozeman High kids and a lot of folks from around town playing and they sounded great. They played USC's Tribute to Troy over and over and over... Real college football sound.

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[Catfanatic84]

Coach Ash is a class act. My hat's off to him.

[CapitalCityCat]

Outstanding!

I don't know how many students have been in the band in recent years, but I remember the band being much larger in the early 2000s. I remember watching the Spirit of the West band perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and marching through the set up the Today show. I believe they had close to 200 members back then.

[TboneCat]

This is great news!!

Thanks Coach Ash from another alum.

The article in the alumni publication also states that President Cruzado will be matching any donations given to the band. So if you were waiting for the right time to donate now appears to be the best time!

[codecat]

I knew I had read this somewhere...was in this article from last spring as to the beneficiaries of the Liberty Mutual Award. The band will be a good use of these funds.

http://www.msubobcats.com/news/2012/4/1 ... h=football" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Liberty Mutual Insurance also will award $20,000 to the Montana State University Alumni Association to support scholarships. Since the award's inception in 2006, Liberty Mutual has donated more than $1.5 million toward charity and scholarship on behalf of its Coach of the Year Award winners.

“Coach Ash has been a true asset to the Montana State University community. He has brought pride to this campus, its alumni and the state of Montana,” said Jaynee Groseth, president of the Montana State University Alumni Association. “This generous contribution from Liberty Mutual will provide scholarships to outstanding student musicians in our Spirit of the West Marching Band, which helps to provide so many fans and alumni with an exciting game day experience.”

[MSU01]

Outstanding!

I don't know how many students have been in the band in recent years, but I remember the band being much larger in the early 2000s. I remember watching the Spirit of the West band perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and marching through the set up the Today show. I believe they had close to 200 members back then.

And not surprisingly, the number of band members plummeted immediately after that trip. I am very glad to see Coach Ash supporting the band, as a great band really does add to the overall gameday experience. I can't say I'm too surprised that students aren't flocking to the band though - I'm not sure I'd want to commit the time to go through all those marching practices only to perform to 90% empty stands at halftime as most fans flock back out to their tailgates.

[kcatz]

I thought the band was large (for Macy's parade) because it was SOW and a couple of Gallatin County High Schools (Bozeman High and maybe Three Forks or Manhattan).

[CapitalCityCat]

I thought the band was large (for Macy's parade) because it was SOW and a couple of Gallatin County High Schools (Bozeman High and maybe Three Forks or Manhattan).

I wasn't positive so I did some searching. Doesn't sound like the high schools were involved.

http://alumni.montana.edu/news/collegia ... fuster.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When Fuster arrived at MSU, the Spirit of the West Marching Band was comprised of only 34 members. After three seasons under Fuster's direction, the band now boasts 161 talented and passionate musicians who never fail to rally the fans at Bobcat athletic events.

As a result of Fuster's efforts, the Spirit of the West Marching Band and MSU received worldwide visibility last November. By creatively piecing together a videotape of the small band and making solid connections, Fuster secured the acceptance of the Spirit of the West Marching Band as the first ensemble from Montana in the 75-year history of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. He also arranged an appearance on the NBC "Today" show in which the band and MSU received over three minutes of prime-time coverage. During the parade, the band performed live for CBS and NBC entertaining 65 million television viewers around the world, in 24 languages. MSU Alumni from all over the country tuned in and reported their pride and excitement in seeing their alma mater represented at such a prestigious event.

[kcatz]

CapitalCityCat, I was curious so I asked a friend of mine, who is from Bozeman high and was in SOW. She and her friends said that the band used High School students and adults to bulk up the numbers during the Macy's year.

I believe that the band got accepted to Macy's and then bulked up numbers, so they were chosen on merit not size of the band.

[profisme]

CapitalCityCat, I was curious so I asked a friend of mine, who is from Bozeman high and was in SOW. She and her friends said that the band used High School students and adults to bulk up the numbers during the Macy's year.

I believe that the band got accepted to Macy's and then bulked up numbers, so they were chosen on merit not size of the band.

I was a freshman music major in 2001 and I knew going into that year, before they had any idea of how many people would be in the band, that we were going to perform at the Macy's Parade. There were several high schoolers in the band that year. But it was a trip to New York, so that made the long days of marching before classes had even started a bit more bearable. It definitely was an experience.

Now there are few incentives for individuals to be in the marching band due to people leaving at halftime, hot uniforms during the early games and not enough warmth during the late fall games. So from a former marching band member, I would like to thank Coach Ash for his very generous gift to the band.

[grizband]

As someone who was in the Grizzly marching band before and after an endowment was established, I can attest that this will do wonders for your band. In 2000, the Grizzly Marching Band was about 60 members, most of whom were not dedicated to the group. When the Griz played Georgia Southern in the 2000 title game, a local doctor saw the Eagle marching band, and wanted something similar at Montana. He donated money to the department, and within only a couple years, the band had doubled in size to 130+ members. Congratulations to the MSU band, and I hope this truly does ignite excitement about the group!

[mr leslie]

As someone who was in the Grizzly marching band before and after an endowment was established, I can attest that this will do wonders for your band. In 2000, the Grizzly Marching Band was about 60 members, most of whom were not dedicated to the group. When the Griz played Georgia Southern in the 2000 title game, a local doctor saw the Eagle marching band, and wanted something similar at Montana. He donated money to the department, and within only a couple years, the band had doubled in size to 130+ members. Congratulations to the MSU band, and I hope this truly does ignite excitement about the group!

Classy post, thanks!

[catgrad05]

As someone who was in the Grizzly marching band before and after an endowment was established, I can attest that this will do wonders for your band. In 2000, the Grizzly Marching Band was about 60 members, most of whom were not dedicated to the group. When the Griz played Georgia Southern in the 2000 title game, a local doctor saw the Eagle marching band, and wanted something similar at Montana. He donated money to the department, and within only a couple years, the band had doubled in size to 130+ members. Congratulations to the MSU band, and I hope this truly does ignite excitement about the group!

I had always wondered why UM's band was so much larger than MSU's. Lets hope Coach Ashs endowment will help our band as much as it helps yours. I cant wait till the bands are about the same size so at Cat Griz there can be a battle between the bands

[Rich K]

Bump.

Looking back at this it appears when Ash started the band endowment things really changed. I would be curious to hear from band members about the before and after the endowment and how it has changed the game day experience

[84CatGrad]

Say what you want about Coach Ash but he was a class act and I'm proud he's our all time winningest coach. But I hope Coach V unseats him in four years or so.

[AFCAT]

I believe Choate helped fund the fueling station out of his own pocket when it first started up.

[91catAlum]

I believe Choate helped fund the fueling station out of his own pocket when it first started up.

Wow that's pretty damn cool of him!

[kcatz]

I believe Choate helped fund the fueling station out of his own pocket when it first started up.

I read a different story recently.

Choate used money that Ash had used for a Black Bull membership to pay for the fueling station.

Choate said "if I want a golf membership I will pay for it myself."