Script Woo! marks 25 years at WHS Homecoming Game
By Tami Lange Mosser
September 23, 2013
1482
Any Wooster High School marching band member can tell you – theres no i in Wooster.
No i in Woo.
No i in Generals.
So, 25 years ago, when the band wanted to do something like the iconic Script Ohio made famous by The Best Damn Band in The Land, it had to get a little creative.
And so the Script Woo! was born.
They needed something to dot, long-time director Dan Adams said. They didnt have an i. And with just 130 members, there was no way to stretch the drill into Wooster.
Adams came the year after the first Script Woo!, which he jokingly admitted is a total rip off of the Ohio State Script Ohio. Originally put together for the 1988 senior show with the help of then assistant director Cindy Glass, the idea was revived in 1990 and has been a crowd pleaser ever since. This season, it will be performed at the Generals Homecoming game Friday Sept. 27 against Madison. Repeat performances will be made at away games against Clear Fork on Oct. 4 and Lexington on Oct. 11.
Though it may look difficult, Adams said the follow-the-leader drill is charted on just two pages, while a typical pre-game or halftime show can be 13-14 pages.
The job of leading the drill goes to the majorette with the most seniority, an honor which this year goes to sophomore Rebecca Foley. A twirler since seventh grade, Foley said she always enjoyed watching the band and the majorettes. Her work is made a bit easier by spray painted markings used on the practice field, so I just follow the lines.
Right behind her for the homecoming presentation is senior sousaphone player Anthony Tizzano, who started his musical career on trombone in fifth grade and then transitioned to the sousaphone. In addition to the honor of dotting the !, Tizzano said, being a senior sousaphone player is made yet more memorable by the Sousa parties before each game, as well as the pure joy of marching in and out of the stadium.
Tizzano doubtlessly will see the authentic Script Ohio after graduation, as he plans to attend OSU to major in electrical engineering.
The Wooster version is authentic from a music standpoint as well. Adams pointed out the band will go through three repetitions of Le Regiment, just as the Buckeyes do. Tizzano dots the ! and the entire group breaks into Across the Field.
Each year, Adams said, some modifications have to be made to adapt to the changing membership, which this year stands at 168 (with 34 seniors). The number went as high as 260 in 1999.
And every year it works just fine, to the appreciation of the alumni and the fans in the stands. It is, Adams said, band magic.
