Adaptive Traditions

Traditoinalize- (v.) to make traditional

“‘Tis better to Bone Give than to Bone Receive!”- Lawrence Musketfeathers (1898)

Tonight was the last rehearsal before Thanksgiving break. Therefore, it was time for the ritual celebration of Bonegiving. From the Challah of Bifurcation to the veal, all the symbols of the holiday were in place and the gluttonous celebration commenced.
Being in the band affords the opportunity to see something become tradition, something that was lost to time or something completely new. I.E.

• ARN, the Penn (and Stanford) Band’s victory song, features a trombone lick. After every Ivy League victory the Trombones traditionally play the fight song/alma mater of the other school, and by traditionally I mean this started during basketball season last year.
• Bonegiving, founded in 1898, lost in 1973 and returned to the Penn Band Low Brass Section in 2006. An event full of gluttony and fun that was, hopefully, traditionalized tonight.

These “traditions”, despite their relative newness hold important places in the hearts and minds of the section. In his blog post, Dr. Gupta discusses the institutional memory of undergraduate groups. He’s right, kind of. The role of the upperclassmen is not solely to teach and maintain long term memory, it’s to adapt to the strengths of the group. A tradition should not necessarily look the same year after year, it should continue to shift and change until it’s something that conveys the feeling the tradition originally intended, which, on Bonegiving, is stuffed to a point of nearly vomiting every time you stand up, walk, sit down or lay down. I’m feeling Bonegiving-y right now.