NS Alumni Enjoy Bowl Game with Hawkeye Band
  By: Tracy Dunn
Eldridge North Scott Press: January 12, 2005

  
 Former North Scott High School marching band members who have taken their talent to the University of Iowa
Hawkeye Marching band are (l-r): Lee Burress, Katie Leiting, Laura Bader, Nick Mixdorf and Ryan Arp.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The University of Iowa football players, cheerleaders and fans weren't the only ones enjoying the
thrill of a lifetime at the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day. The Hawkeye Marching Band - 250 members strong -
traveled to Orlando, Fla., on two planes that left Cedar Rapids on Dec. 29. Under the direction of Kevin Kastens,
the band performed not only at the halftime show, but also at the Orlando Citrus Parade and the Hawkeye Huddle
on Dec. 30, in parades at Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios on Dec. 31, and at the Seller
Kuykendall Hospitality Village before the game on Jan. 1.

Five of the Iowa band members are alumni of North Scott High School - Nick Mixdorf (Class of 2002), Laura Bader, Ryan Arp and Katie Leiting (2003), and Lee Burress (2004). The trip provided the students with plenty of stories to
tell, and not just about that unbelievable final minute of the game against Louisiana State University.

After meeting in Iowa City at 6 a.m. on the 29th, Bader said, the band flew out of Cedar Rapids on flights at 8 and
8:30 a.m. Once in Orlando, they checked into their hotel, then went to downtown Disney to practice.

At the Orlando Citrus Parade (the Citrus Bowl is sponsored by Capital One), the Hawkeye musicians marched
for 2 miles in their wool uniforms.

"It was pretty hot," said Bader.

That evening, they played for 11,000 loyal Iowa fans at the Hawkeye Huddle in the Orange County Convention Center.

New Year's Eve was a busy one for the band, starting with the Magic Kingdom parade in the morning. Following the parade, band members were able to spend about three hours "playing around," but Bader says the Disney crowds allowed time for going on just two or three rides.

"It was really busy but still fun," Bader added.

Later they marched at Universal Studios and stayed for the New Year's Eve celebration. Although the park
was open until 1 a.m., band members had to head back to their hotel at 12:30. Early morning practice prohibited|
  too much revelry.

The pre-game and halftime shows on New Year's Day in front of 70,000 fans warmed up the band for that last
play of the bowl game.

"Oh my gosh, that was one of the most exciting things of my life," exclaimed Bader. "I was watching through my fingers.
It was exciting but scary," she said of the 56-yard touchdown pass as the clock ran out that gave the Hawkeyes a
30-25 victory over the Tigers.

"They didn't let anybody on the field after the game ... there was a pretty high wall ... We just played the fight song
and the beer song at the end quite a few times," she said.

The excitement didn't end there for the band. After the game, they headed straight to the airport. Their return flights
to Iowa went through what Bader called "terrible weather." While the plane she was riding in experienced turbulence
and a rough landing, passengers learned when they arrived in Cedar Rapids that the plane carrying the other half
of the marching band was forced to land in St. Louis because of freezing rain. Those students didn't make it back
to Iowa until about 3 a.m.

Joining the marching band in college offers students plenty of opportunities for forging friendships and making memories, but it doesn't always lead to a national bowl game appearance. Luckily, Iowa has given its band members plenty of
such chances over the years.

North Scott band director Mike McMann, who graduated from the University of Iowa in December of 1996,
traveled to three bowl games during his tenure in the Hawkeye Marching Band.

"I went to two Alamo Bowls and a Sun Bowl," he recalled. "It was always a great time - very cool to see all
of the Hawkeye fans wherever we went." An added bonus, McMann added, is that he met his wife, Christie,
while marching for Iowa.

©Eldridge North Scott Press 2005