Alumnus Michael Cynecki remembers his time in the WSU marching band

Michael Cynecki, BSCE'78, MSCE'79, remembers two things most clearly about his years in the Wayne State University Marching Band: He had a great time. And he was almost always cold.

It's no wonder Cynecki has lived in Phoenix, Ariz., for the last 25 years, where he works as traffic engineering supervisor for the City of Phoenix.

"I remember playing during the Detroit Lions' half-time show on Thanksgiving and worrying about my lips freezing to the mouthpiece," Cynecki says.

Cynecki was in the band from 1974 to 1976, playing the euphonium under the direction of esteemed band director Harold Arnoldi, who also led the bands for the Detroit Lions and the Michigan State Fair.

"He was good and he was demanding," Cynecki says. "I remember marching in Wayne Stadium during practice and him screaming down, 'Cynecki, don't trip over the painted lines.' I guess he was concerned I wasn't stepping high enough. How he could identify me from the top of the stands was very impressive."

Arnoldi also made it possible for Cynecki to attend WSU by recruiting the Warren Woods High School graduate and finding a merit scholarship for which he qualified. Cynecki says he wouldn't have been able to afford college otherwise.

"The band made me join Wayne," he says, adding that the roughly 125 band members produced a sound that rivaled the best of the best.
"We had a big band sound without a big band," he remembers.

Cynecki played with the band during the Lions' final Thanksgiving game in the old Tiger Stadium in 1974, as well as their first Thanksgiving game at the Silverdome in 1975. In those days, Cynecki remembers, college bands were featured on national television during half-time.
"In the Silverdome, you had to have the temperature at a certain degree or the roof would collapse, so they would open panels to keep it warm and melt the snow on top," Cynecki says. "You would be marching and there would be a waterfall in front of you. I got close a few times, but I never got drenched."

Reprinted with permission from Wayne Magazine