SAEGERTOWN — SAEGERTOWN — Sam Harrison was well aware of the reputation the Saegertown marching band had back in the 1950s even as a student 30 miles away in Union City.

But Harrison really never understood the hoopla surrounding the band until he saw them for the first time during a parade one summer day. One look and Harrison was simply in awe.

“I thought, ‘I never want to be in another parade with Saegertown,’” said Harrison, who was then a trumpet player with the Union City band. “It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

“We never did anything special. We were just ordinary. But Saegertown? They blew me away.”

Nearly 55 years later, Harrison, now a Saegertown resident, has written a book about just what made that band so special. The book is a culmination of nearly eight months of research on the band and it is scheduled to be released at an open house on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. at French Creek Valley Christian School.

Former band director Jim Billingsley, 86, will be the guest of honor. Several former band members are also expected to be in attendance. The event will be headlined by a group of a dozen or so former band members performing the steps of one of the band’s first dance routines to the tune, “The Whiffenpoof Song.”

“I’ve talked with former band members and even today at 70 years old these guys consider their time in the Saegertown band as one of the best parts of their lives,” Harrison said. “It had that kind of impact. What they did and what they accomplished is something that needs to be shared. With a book, they’ll have something they can sit on their coffee tables; something that will put a spotlight on something that was so big in their lives. It will give them a chance to talk about it again.”

Marching bands weren’t anything new in the 1950s, but it was hard to find one that incorporated playing a musical instrument, marching and intricate dance moves like the historic Massillon Tiger Swing Band made famous in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Saegertown was awfully close.

Saegertown’s band officially began in 1953 under the leadership of Billingsley with approximately 35 members. But it wasn’t until about the 1956 or ’57 season, following the construction of a band rehearsal room at the high school by band parents, that the band really began to take off. The band would perform half of its show, filled with exciting dance moves and routines choreographed by Billingsley, and then kill the lights and perform a variety of precision moves.

“I’ve line danced and I worked hard to learn how to do that,” Harrison said. “I could never imagine line dancing while playing a musical instrument. And all the music was memorized. Nothing was written down. It was just amazing.

“I have guys now who are rehearsing for a performance at the open house and they’ve said, ‘How did we ever do that?’ It just blows me away.”

The band went on to perform at several National Football League halftime shows and parades. In 1959, Saegertown received and accepted an invitation to perform at the Chicago Charities College All-Star Game at Soldier Field. The event was sponsored by the Chicago Tribune and the game was played between the NFL champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year.

Harrison said being chosen to perform at the game meant you were the “best band east of the Mississippi.”

“Red Grange was the announcer,” Harrison said. “It was a smash.”

Harrison said the band was welcomed home from its three-day trip to Chicago by a group of fire trucks that escorted the three Greyhound buses down Main Street in Saegertown, which was lined with supporters.

“This is all about the band,” Harrison said of his decision to document the 1953 to 1961 bands in a book entitled, “You Start With Your Left Foot: The Amazing History of Saegertown’s First School Marching Band.” The title was reworked from an unpublished manual Billingsley wrote that included maneuvers and dance steps he used with his bands. Billingsley later directed bands in the Ohio towns of Oberlin and Massillon.

Harrison came across the idea of writing a book about the bands while doing research for a book he is writing about the history of Saegertown. Harrison intended to include a chapter about the band in his book, but found he had an overwhelming amount of information and interest to write a book about the band itself.

Harrison got in contact with Billingsley, who supplied him with seven scrapbooks of information. Harrison also got some help from former band members.

Harrison said 250 copies of the book are being printed. The book will include a DVD containing 12 minutes of footage from the band’s trip to Soldier Field. Cost of the book is $25.

“It’s all gone about as good as it could,” Harrison said of his project. “I feel good about it. I think it will tell an awful lot about this town, which I’m passionate about. The band kind of had this characteristic of ‘Get out of our way, we can do it’ attitude, which I think still exists here in Saegertown.

“It’s what I love about this town.”



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.



You can go

“You Start With Your Left Foot: The Amazing History of Saegertown’s First School Marching Band” by Sam Harrison will be released Saturday at an open house from 2 to 5 p.m. at French Creek Valley Christian School. Members from the early bands are expected to attend and perform some of the band’s special playing-marching-dancing routines.