Does anyone recall the Moe’s Percentage Night for the Highty Tighties? If you’re forgetful like me, you might not have remembered it was about a week ago: Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. And if you’re extremely bad with time management, you might’ve tried to slip in and out of Moe’s hoping to still arrive on time to Band-a-rama practice - Marching Virginians out there, you know getting to Burruss on time was a struggle that night due to the long line of people attending the fundraiser!
Tau Beta Sigma; Source: Facebook
The two bands of Virginia Tech often perform together, and they each hold each other in a high regard. Most recently, the two bands took the field together at halftime to partake in Homecoming festivities at the football game vs Boston College on Saturday, October 3rd. As a collective group of band nerds and music lovers, we love finding ways to support each other and lift each other up into the shared spotlight. The Moe’s fundraiser is a great example of this. This was the first fundraiser by Tau Beta Sigma (TBS), Virginia Tech’s honorary band sorority, dedicated solely to the Highty Tighties.
Big deal, right? Yes, it’s a very big deal! The Regimental Band, the Highty Tighties (HT’s) are a military marching band housed here on Virginia Tech’s campus. In fact, they are Virginia Tech's longest-serving musical organization! Due to their rigorous schedules, they do not often get the chance to participate in fundraisers.
Alison Ritz, TBS Treasurer and a member of the MV’s color guard, was behind the Moe’s fundraiser and was very excited to organize it. While still organizaing other TBS and MV events, she was able to put an amazing event together to support the cadets in the Highty Tighties.
I spoke with her about her other ideas regarding support for the Highty Tighties. She’s interested in hosting a fall fundraiser for them every year, hoping that this past fundraiser was the start of a new tradition in the beautiful relationship between the MV’s, the HT’s, and TBS.
“I would love to make it a more cohesive, fluid connection between the organizations. We already have so much respect for [the HT’s] — it would be great to have a lot of friendships develop.” -Alison Ritz, Treasurer of Tau Beta Sigma
The Highty Tighties; Source: Facebook
She also is excited for a potential joint August cookout, where HT’s and MV’s could enjoy summer food and entertainment together. We’ll keep our fingers crossed!
As a final note, it is important that we, as band members and band supporters, recognize how important both the marching bands are.
“I would like to see a lot more interaction between the two bands, because that would get more cadets interested in hanging out with other band members and getting to know more people outside the corps.” -Garett Walsh, Sophomore Cadet
As a Marching Virginian, I have realized we are much more similar to the Highty Tighties than I previously thought. #MVs4lyfe AND #HTs4lyfe!