Hundreds of former Ohio University Marching 110 members are currently counting down the days until Homecoming, an event intended to bring life-long Bobcats back to Athens for a weekend of throwbacks and traditions. One of these beloved annual practices within the Marching 110 is the inclusion of the alumni band in yearly Homecoming festivities and the reunion of a century-old family.
The 110 family includes a few blood-related families as well. Brothers Joel and Mike Voytek both played trombone for the band in the ‘90s and try to return for the Homecoming parade annually.
“It’s always good to see people year in, year out,” Joel Voytek said. “You usually get to see them maybe once or twice a year, so it’s always good to get back and connect and have a good time.”
The Voytek brothers have engaged in the traditions of the 110 since they were teenagers. The brothers attended high school in Conneaut, Ohio, where their father was the local band director and a huge believer in the style of the 110.
“He had former students in the 110 that came back to him very early on and said ‘Hey, there’s something special in here that we need to do,’” Mike Voytek said.
The traditions of the 110 influenced the brothers throughout high school and college, and now they return every year to march alongside Joel’s daughter, a current sophomore in the band.
“It’s cool to see everything through her eyes, everything we experienced 30 years ago that now she gets to go through,” Mike Voytek said. “I love talking to her and just hearing the crazy things she says about what happened in rehearsal.”
A fellow bandmate of Joel’s daughter is Ryan Bunyard, a senior studying music education and the current field commander of the 110. In this role, Bunyard is responsible for guiding new members of the band and leading the group throughout the year.
“I’m so appreciative to be in a group that holds themselves to such a high standard and that I have people I can rely on,” Bunyard said. “We love to put on a show for the crowd and it’s just amazing to be able to share that and share our unique style.”
These sentiments expressed for the band and the lessons it teaches are shared by many alumni. Jennifer Bowie completed her undergraduate degree at OU in 1994 and was a member of the band’s flag section while attending school.
“The 110 really defined my out-of-class experience at Ohio University,” Bowie said. “It’s where I made fantastic friends, it’s where I learned about leadership, it’s where I learned about having difficult conversations and doing hard work.”
The Voytek brothers believe the band inspired them throughout adulthood, with Joel Voytek citing “a level of commitment and drive” that Mike Voytek believes draws alumni back to campus year after year.
“It’s that excellence, that drive, that brings everybody back,” Mike Voytek said. “You want to do it one more time yourself and you want to see what the band is doing now.”
The adrenaline rush of marching in the Homecoming Parade is something Bowie looks forward to every year, getting to experience the same excitement and energy from the crowd she remembers from her college years.
“When we get together in that group, it’s that shared experience from people who graduated in 2022 to folks who graduated in 1969, we all share that experience and what it’s like to do that hard work with a group,” Bowie said.
One of the many beautiful aspects of this tradition is its longevity, resulting in generations of memories beginning with marching in the band and continuing throughout the years as an alum.
“I can remember alumni coming down when I was in the band,” Joel Voytek said. “I can remember how it felt for me to see people that were maybe the very first members in the band and it was always cool to see the past and mix it up with the present.”
The relationship between alumni and students is one of mutual adoration; the current members of the band enjoy interacting with former students as much as the alumni enjoy being on campus and seeing the new iterations of the 110.
“They were us,” Bunyard said. “They stood in the same spots that we stand in, they played the same music. A lot of them were under the same director, and if not, they still played the same instruments. It’s really interesting to see the similarities and also hear some of the differences.”
As a current senior just months away from entering the world as an OU alumnus, Bunyard looks forward to coming back to Athens for Homecoming Weekend and seeing the band continue to change and grow, a bright future many alumni contribute to.
One of these contributions is from a few select members who get to arrange pieces for the band to perform. Mike Voytek has been arranging music for the Homecoming half-time show for years, and his work will be featured this upcoming weekend.
“It’s really cool to get the opportunity to do that and still be a small part of what the band does,” he said.
Bowie contributes to the future of the 110 by supporting a fundraising campaign for the band's permanent practice field. This show of support represents a strong sense of community and connection she hopes continues within the alumni network of the future.
“My hope for the future is that alumni continue to support and champion an even better future for the 110,” she said.
