The Cornhusker Marching Band has updated the trailer it uses to haul instruments and equipment across the nation.
Purchased in 2008, the trailer serves as a moving billboard for the band and university. Prior to the trailer, the band would rent two large box trucks for performances at other venues.
“We started shopping for a trailer during the spring semester of 2008 and completed the project (including the first vinyl covering) by mid-August,” said Doug Bush, assistant director of bands. “It was pretty quick.”
The Pride of All Nebraska trailer was found as part of a larger group of older identical trailers in a field in rural North Texas.
“It was in pretty rough shape, so it was a major reclamation project,” Bush said.
Since that time, the trailer has traveled the United States, from Florida to California and places in between. It’s used about three times a year-one full band away conference trip, a bowl game and a local high school band contest or a conference championship.
“We were told by drivers that they would routinely see people wave or honk their horns when the trailer passed by,” Bush said. “Fans would walk up with their cameras ready and we would think they wanted a picture with the band staff…nope, the trailer. It really serves a dual purpose, we haul our equipment inside, but the outside is a ‘billboard’ for the UNL Band Program as well as the Glenn Korff School of Music and the university.”
But, the original vinyl covering was no longer cutting it.
“The vinyl covering had begun showing wear and fading,” Bush said. “Also, with the updates to university branding, it made sense to get the trailer up to date.”
The latest vinyl covering will make its debut this fall. It incorporates parts of the Cornhusker Marching Band uniform and an image of a drum major along with the new Nebraska N.
“This has been a team effort all around, from the band staff, Glenn Korff School of Music staff, to University Communications,” Bush said. “The interior design was completed by the University Building Systems Maintenance staff. The overall project involved several entities in and outside of the university campus.”
The Cornhusker Marching Band’s road conference game will be at Northwestern in late September. For more information on the band, click here.
