The Cadet. VMI Newspaper. November 03, 1961 - New Page 1 ...

The VMI Commanders are shown here practicing in J. M. Hallfor their engagement this weekend at the informal dance on theVMI post.History Of CommandersGoes Back Many YearsBy Steve MatthewsIt's often said that the life of adanoe is determined by the tj-peand quality of the music provided,yet, one would hardly considerseven mandolins, a guitar and abanjo representative of the VMICommanders. Suprisingly, the forerunnerof the present day danceorchestra was organized with justthat ~ instrumentation. The Corpswas justly proud of that group andsimilarly, throughout the years,the VMI cadet orchestra has receivedwide acclaim from aU whoenjoy smooth, danceable musicalong with a touch of the currentrock n' roll hits.Let's go back to the turn of thecentury when that first group, theMandolin Club, had it's beginning.It lasted until 1917 when the firsttrumpet was added and the mandolinsbegan to disappear from theInstrumentation. The group at thistime, called simply the Cadet Orchestra,spent their Saturday eveningsplaying at intermission forthe weekly movies in Nichols EngineeringBuilding. This samegroup was sent to New York Cityto make the first recording of the"VMI Spirit." This was only thebeginning of many enjoyable tripsto be made by Cadet Orchestras.The year 1924 saw the "Ramblin'Keydets", as the band was thencalled, engaged in providing musicfor the Cunard liner, Berengaria,on its European tour. It was a greattrip for the ten piece orchestraas it played two weeks in Virginiacities before boarding ship to NewYork, played twice a day in thebeautiful ballroom of the Berengaria,and topped it all off by playinga week's engagement in a Pariscabaret. It is said that the groupwas widely acclaimed by Parisiansand touring Americans alike whothought highly of its "Jazz Era"style. Upon return to me States,the orchestra had to, naturally, rejectseveral professional offers,including one from Mary Hay. leadingdanseuse of the New YorkI stage.Whittoa Keyn(: • since 1931. when Ihe "Ramhlin'Keydets" becamc known as the"VMI Commanders." No majorchanges have been initiated. Th*>instrumentation has varied fromyear to >Tar depending upon thetalent available a? the InstiUite, Itwas also in 1931 that the messjacket, straight pants, and black Virginia's I5th annual IghwAybow ties wvre installed as the • conference brought four Jtie-tim«Commanders' official uniform and highway department direcjbrs andha\-e been worn ever since for n^or^ than a dozen other; leadersfIVHighway Confereiii!;eall formal engagements. The class the industry to Virgii^a MlHormonogram sweater has been .^ry Institute October 25-M.On Thursday, October 26, EllisL. Armstrong, president of theworn since 1954 for most combo: ^bp^t boo engineers. IcCal goV^Better Highways Information Foundationand director of highways inand informal engagements. | ernment officials, contractirs, edu-Rvcause of a lack of transporta- cators and safety experts arranged Utah until his appointment astion and increased academic de- ; the three-day seminar on highways, commissioner of public roads inmands. the Commanders were dis-1 In addition, the Departrtient 6f 1958, moderated a seven-man panelbanded for two years during World , Highways announced at Richmotid discussion.War II. In order to regain its repu- that the monthly meeting of thetation. the practice of using Wash- nine-member Highway CoiimissJpn^ ington and Lee students was started. was held at Lexington Oc&ber 26.The last of the W&L students was Rex Whitton, federal highwayin 1952 when the Commanders becamethe orchestra as it is known ference in a speech Wednesday,administrator, keynoted the con-today.October 25 at 2 p.m. Whitton wasThe iiic fact that tiiai the mc v^uiiiiiiaiiuci5 Commanders j- a veteran — of 40 — years in ^ the - high „is the only functional organization | way field prior to his^appointrnent!_ T> 1 ... . tr^ tV>A nniinl^fir'c fnn foHoral hiohwavin Barracks in which members to the country's top federal highwayaren't excused from confinement post by President Kennedy.Whitton resigned as chief engineerof the Missouri HighwayDepartment to take the federalfor off the post performances makesit extremely difficult to insureadequate coverage of each musician'spart for every engagement.However, the group is fortunate tohave several very capable reservesin barrack who on occasions fillin on a needed part. Each of thesereserve musicians attends eachpractice session regularly and canin an emergency play any arrangementin the band's repertoire.This year is the finale for threegraduating First Classmen whohave been members of the Commandersduring their entire cadetship;lead tenor saxophone playerWayne Pacine, last year's directorand co-director this year; PetePettit First trumpet, all-around fillinman and the other co-directorthis year, and Steve Matthews bassplayer, vocalist, and business manager.A three year veteran on tromboneis Nelson Prince, who alongwith Jimmy Dean and ChaunceyLapp, rounds out the graduatingcadets in the brass section. Last,but not least is "Smiley"Burnett,who became a member of the Commandersjust this year. Smileyjob. He is also a farmer presidentof the American Association ofHighway Officials (AASHO).Whitton's keynote talk followed"tickles the keys."Second Classmen Mike Warring,alto sax and accordion, GeorgeBlood, tenor sax, Joe Brown altosax, and Rat Phil Taylor round outthe saxaphone section. Frank"Night Train" Frosch and JimmyCrawford on drums complete theinstrumentation of this year'sgroup.Behind any successful operationthere's always a voice of guidingwisdom. Major Howard Simpsonserving in tbe capacity of facultyadvisor has been extremely helpfulto the Commanders in thevarious technical hazards whichhave arisen with the Institute.Thus, you have the Commander'sof 1961-62. As a very successfulband, it will be remembered by -allwho have heard it as a worthycompanion of its forerunners, theMandolin Club and the RamblijiKeydeta of yesteryear. .an address by A. E. Johnson, executivesecretary of AASHO andformer chief engineer of the ArkansasState Highway Department.The panel theme and that of theentire proceedings was concernedwith the impact of highway planningand construction on economicdevelopment.General James A. Anderson, Virginiahighway commissioner for 16years before his retirement in 1958,presided at the opening session.H. H. Harris, the present commissioner,made the response to thewelcome offered by Genetal GeorgeR. E. Shell, VMI superintendent.Thursday morning panel memberswere M. Carl Andrews, ^itorof the Roanoke World News; JohnT. Hanna, assistant Sector ofpublic safety, Richmond; WilburS. Smith of Wilbur S. Smith andAssociates; Chris H. Whiteman,director of industrial developmentfor the Virginia State Chamber ofCommerce; K. B. Rykken, directorof tlie highway and legal departmentof the Ainerican AutomobileAssociation;'J. C. Hansbarger, assistantto the general. manager, AppalachianPower Comapny; andD. B. Fugate, assistant chief engineer,Virginia Department ofHighways.Eighteen others had a part inpanel programs Thursday afternoonand in the closing general sessionFriday, October 27.The conference, sponsored jointlyby the Highway Department andVirginia Military Institute, had itsorigins during the administratiortof General Anderson and has becomea forum for discussion andstudy of highway problems.BMST II S^/n/rws IS• — T n n TPAUL'S BARBER SHOPElm Ave. & Lincoln St.PORTSMOUTH. VA.TheVIRGINIA HOUSERestanrantHO 3-3643 S. Main St.Lexington, Va.BIERER'S PHARMACYWE DELIVERLEXINGTON.VA.- THE TAP ROOMFOR CADErS PLEASURE ATCORNER GRILLUNIVERSITY CLEANERSCLEANING • PBESSINGSHIKT LAUNDERINGMONTICELLO DAIRYCharlottesville, Va.Clayton's TaxiSERVICE OURPOUCYSafety First — HO 3.314tTETLOW TV SERVICEHO S-2M1Repair Radios k PkeaosWE PICK VP AND DEUVERLEGGETT'SDEPARTMENT STOREMain StreetLenington, Va.HAMRIC & SHERIDANJewelersOpposite State TheaterLexingtoa. Va.Watck Repair — EngraviofPleasurePARAMOUNT' , Food