As all great organization must, MU MU PI, the National Fraternity of Marching Saxophones began with innocent, yet noble intentions and generous consumption of spirituous libations.
What began on the afternoon of May 12, 1978, with an outing at Picnic Point in Madison has grown, thrived and flourished for 25 years. MU MU PI members, including current band saxophonists and alumni, this year will mark the fraternity's 25th anniversary with two celebrations: a party following the Varsity Band Concert April 26 at Jordan's Big Ten Pub and a reunion festival Friday night of Alumni Band Weekend.
These events will commemorate the beginning and continuation of MU MU PI. As members of the saxophone section hovered around a barrel at Picnic Point, which Rich Reppen transported to the party via canoe, they dreamed and schemed about the future.
According to PI Alumnus Tom Notbohm, saxophone players discussed the idea of creating a fraternity for saxophone players, fashioned after other academic fraternities on campus. The idea grew from there. So, apparently, did the bonfire. Reppen had to use a Frisbee as a paddle on the return trip home. Apparently, his canoe paddle ended up in ashes. Put another log on the fire.
MU MU PI received official fraternity status through the university, but the organization solidified its standing and reputation because of a road trip that a ragtag fleet of band members made to the University of Michigan in 1978 for a hockey game. The trip, as road trips tend to do, generated great stories and great times. Notbohm said that during the weekend, some Michigan band members stole a University of Wisconsin banner.
About two weeks later, a classified ad written as a ransom note appeared in the Daily Cardinal. Some members of MU MU PI put together a package with two notable items: a photo from the 1977 band trip, known simply as "Moon over Benton Harbor," and an infamous cow pie. These industrious members sent the package to the address listed in the classified ad. Somehow the package ended up in the director of bands' office, and the director of bands immediately called Mike Leckrone, UW Marching Band director.
For years after this incident, Leckrone refused to sign MU MU PI membership cards, Notbohm said. "If you have one that's signed from that period, it's kind of a treasure."
This incident resulted in the spread of MU MU PI, which subsequently established chapters at Michigan, Notre Dame, Indiana, Northwestern and North Dakota. Many of these chapters created PI cards patterned after those of the founding chapter. The PI card carries such weight that establishments around the world accept it as readily as American Express cards. Membership truly does have its privileges.
In 1978 four members of the fraternity established the first of several PI houses. The first PI house at 510 W. Washington drew throngs of partygoers. Big attractions at these parties included dances to the soundtracks from the movies Animal House and The Blues Brothers, and taking guided tours to the basement, where you could watch the floor joists sag and rebound from the gyrations a floor above. On at least one occasion, PI founding member Mike Cechal drove his motorcycle into the living room, followed shortly thereafter by three police officers. Another form of entertainment at these parties involved playing a game where participants pass hand signals around the table. The game achieved such popularity that MU MU PI began holding tournaments with cash prizes each year.
The original chapter also established a tradition of a PI banquet, a Thanksgiving-type feast complete with fudge bottom pie.
Another long-standing tradition, known simply as the PI Lunch, began a few years later. Saxophonists began gathering once each week at the Kollege Klub. The PI Lunch continues at Jordan's Big Ten Pub.