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The briefcase I have used since 1990, or so, isn't the one I started with though. I started storing band items in a briefcase during the summer between my junior and senior years.
When we found out Dennis Carswell was leaving, I went with the upcoming season’s Drum
Majors Dean Mullis and Lonnie Robinson to Carswell's apartment in Cordova. We helped him pack up his last few items and load them into his vehicle
for his trek to Statesville, NC.
There were some things left that he was going to throw away,
like a broken Electronic Battleship game I ended up keeping another ten years before
finally trashing, and some other things he didn't have room to carry but didn't want thrown away. One of those items was his old briefcase, which he gave me. I began then to keep my mounting pile of band junk, as I thought of it in those days, in that briefcase. Sheet music, contest programs, newspaper articles, and even a
stinky bottle of valve oil that, after more
than a quarter century, has probably left every single item stored with it
extremely
flammable.
I used his old briefcase for about 10 years after that, but by then it wasn't holding up too well, so I moved things into my very own
old briefcase, which was structurally sound, but after being with me during a motorcycle wreck, didn't look businesslike anymore. I finally threw Carswell's old briefcase away when it was falling apart, but it certainly did a good job, by saving my band memorabilia which may have otherwise fallen victim to time and apathy.
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Here are some of my items and those submitted by our friends.
The F Troop Flag
It was always inspiring to see Alvin Goins (class of 1980) standing atop the press box waving this huge flag back and forth during our performances.
I don't know where this ultimate piece of memorabilia is these days, but if anyone does, please let me know, so I can take some photos to put here and elsewhere around this site. |
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We'll Start With The Biggest Find To Date
Ken Harrelson found Freddie First Place Frog in the trash after an unknowing and/or uncaring person threw him away.
Can you believe anyone would throw Freddie, or any band
memorabilia of this level away?
Fortunately Ken made the save and passed Freddie onto his brother Larry Harrelson for safe keeping.
The Harrelson brothers turned Freddie over to me in 2004 after I
started the website and said I could keep him. I'll be happy
to return it to them if they ever want it back, but for now, Freddie
sits in a place of honor in a curio cabinet in my office.
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Plumage
Plumes worn with the band's headgear from the beginning through the 1978 season. |
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Introduced In 1981
This jacket had the same design as this year's band t-shirts. The jacket pictured here is actually Jeff Bullard's, and I've had it since before we graduated in 1984. Somehow we mixed them up on a band trip and never got around to swapping them back. I'll have to ask if he still has mine... |
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Band T-Shirt circa
1976
This is the best image I could find, so if you have one of these, or one from any year, let me know, so I can share it here. |
Drummer's Tools
Here are some real Yakety Sticks,
one dressed for practice and the other for competition.
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1982 MBA Patches and Buttons
 
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Need one of these for class?
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MBA Shirts And More From Winners Wear
Other Shirts offered during this
year
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A
Raider Band baseball cap
This item was first offered by the Band Boosters (or was it
the school) after the 1982 or the 1983 marching season. |
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The 1981 Distinguished Service Award
This award was given, at the year's band banquet, to the Marching Raider who showed the most dedication during the season. The 1981 trophy was awarded to
a very surprised Cathy Wiggins (class of 1982) by band director Dennis Carswell. |
| Pieces Of The Action
I played bass, which is why I kept this damaged neck from a practice sousaphone and
these mouth piece links from our silver performance version. 
Why don't I have a bass mouthpiece, too? Why do I have the mouthpieces from a French horn and a trumpet instead? 
Oh, the unanswered questions of youth!
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Sounds of the 70's
*click the image to the right to view more of this album's details and music tracks*
This album was recorded during the 1970-71 school year by the Rockingham High School bands, including the Marching Rockets, all of which were under the direction of David Doolittle, the first director of the Marching Raiders.
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Introduced in 1982
The same jacket was used for many years with only minor changes. This more traditional style jacket was thicker and came with a hood, which made it much warmer than the older jackets had been, but it was so similar to the school's sports jackets (exactly the same except for the hood) that it didn't stand out. |
'Where There's A Will....'
Marching Raiders found lots of ways to
distinguish their own jackets from the sports teams' versions, as well
as from their fellow Marching Raiders. Here is the 1982 jacket dressed out by
Allen 'Aldo' Simmons (class of 84). |
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Anything and everything positive the summer and
fall of 1983 and throughout the 1983-84 school year could easily be described, and your excitement regarding it conveyed,
by simply starting a statement about it starting with these two words...
'Happiness Is...'
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In the summer of 1983 the band's staff and boosters embarked on a effort to sell the school on the idea of new uniforms. One of the promotional items handed out by the uniform company was this button, which begat a Marching Raider catch phrase.
'Happiness is no homework this weekend, Happiness is winning the contest, Happiness is going to MBA, Happiness is securing the back seat for the bus trip, Happiness is being a Marching Raider.
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Still Need A Ticket For The Dance?
Boogie Down was a play on the name of our Al Jarreau number
that season, but for those of us who didn't know it at the time, I 'd like to point out that by December of 1983,
Disco had looong been dead.
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That dance was so much fun, we decided to have another after the Band Banquet and awards, but this time, it wasn't called a disco.
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Ticket Stubs
You've already seen these if you've been to the Bands of America pages, but I've decided to include them here as well. For the second day of Preliminary Competition in 1982. 
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The stub from 1983's second day of Preliminary competitions.
The 1983 Finals stub from that Saturday night. 
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Remember These?
 I had forgotten all about these thick sets of instructional diagrams for each song in the show until I ran across my copy of the one for our 1983 opener, Santa Esmerelda.
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MBA Grand National Championships' Keepsake
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Contact Me with any questions,
comments, or submissions!
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