Roamin' Bones

The trombone section of the Marching Chiefs of Florida State University goes by the name Roamin' Bones.

History

It is not widely known the date that the section name was chosen, however the name was chosen from a tradition of "Roaming" or performing for various sections of Doak Campbell Stadium during the 3rd quarter of a football game.

The Bone Cheer

The Bone Cheer (circa 1976) is developed from the notes "E", "A", "Bb", "G", and "D". The significance behind the letters is a closely guarded secret, known only to those who successfully complete the tryouts for the Marching Chiefs. The cheer is commonly heard at Florida State University football games to express a disagreement to a referee's ruling. While only trombonists who complete the Chiefs' tryout are considered Roamin' Bones, the cheer can also be heard at any other athletic events where the Florida State pep band, "Seminole Sound", is performing.

Repertoire

Prior to each home football game, the whole of the Marching Chiefs performs inside of Dick Howser Stadium at what is called "Skull Session". A tradition is to have each section from the Marching Chiefs perform a "cheer" or short musical excerpt written for homologous sections. These musical charts are commonly recycled from year to year and thus builds a small tradition of music.

The most historic chart the Roamin' Bones play to date is the tune "Carry On Wayward Son" made popular by the band Kansas. Other commonly performed charts are Happy Together by The Turtles, the 20th Century Fox fanfare by Alfred Newman, Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi and many others. A recent addition to the Roamin' Bones library is the tune Springtime for Hitler (dubbed "Springtime for Bones") celebrating the movie adaptation of the musical The Producers (2005 film). This was recently performed at the 2006 Prism Concert at the Ruby Diamond Auditorium on Florida State University's campus.

Every piece of music played by the Roamin' Bones is an arrangement by a student (past or present) of the university. A majority of the time this is done by a member of the section, but in the case of "Springtime for Bones" the music was arranged by a graduate student of the college of music.

The Bone Tree

The Roamin' Bones have a long standing tradition of congregating around a tree which is nicknamed "Bone Tree". The most current "Bone Tree" is on the northwest corner of the Marching Chiefs practice facility. This tree was adopted and dedicated by the section in 2005 after the field had been rebuilt. The tree that was employed prior to was encircled by a parking lot following the massive renovations and became unsuitable for sectional activities. This tree was in use from the middle 1990s following an erroneous removal of the previous Bone Tree on behalf of the university's construction of a new parking lot. Surveyors tagged various trees to be removed in order to confirm with the workers which trees were to be removed. A rival section of marching baritones tied a removal marker to the Bone Tree and it was destroyed as a result.

A characteristic of the "Bone Tree" is to hoist a flag bearing a red-eyed Jolly Roger called the "Bone Flag". The flag is typically raised during any activity on the field such as rehearsals. Occasionally, the flag is brought with the section into the stands at Doak Campbell Stadium or on away trips and displayed in the windows of chartered buses.

Roamin' Bones Alumni Association

The Roamin' Bones Alumni Associate is the brainchild of Jim McDowell. The idea came about in 2005 and was perpetuated by interest from the current membership of the Roamin' Bones along with help from Jason Geiger and Brian Stafford. The goal of the organization is similar to that of a booster club of the goal that proceeds collected from membership dues will go to assist the Roamin' Bones financially with the purchase of section shirts, trombone slide covers, and be able to provide a scholarship to one member annually. Additionally, the association will help in networking and assist graduating seniors in finding employment following college.

Notable Alumni

* Dr. Bentley Shellahamer
* Dr. Carl B. Hancock
* Bobby Bowden*
* Dr. Patrick Dunnigan*

(* denotes honorary)

References

External links

* [http://www.marchingchiefs.fsu.edu/ The Florida State University Marching Chiefs]
* [http://www.roaminbonesalumni.com/ The Roamin' Bones Alumni Association]