"Hail Minnesota!" at the 1982 Spain Reunion 08/13/2022
Under the direction by O'Neill Sanford, past director of the University of Minnesota Marching Band, the alumni and guests in attendance at the 40th year anniversary of their trip to the Costa Del Sol region of Spain sung their school's Alma Mater - "Hail Minnesota!".
O'Neill Sanford, now retired and living in Louisiana, traveled to Minnesota to attend the reunion.
In April, 1982, the University of Minnesota Marching Band traveled to Spain to perform at a world cup soccer game in Malaga, Spain. Performing throughout the Costa Del Sol region of Spain for a week, the Band was warmly received, as the many 1,000's of local Spanish people enjoyed the Band's rousing music from America.
This video is the conclusion of the 40th anniversary reunion of this trip. There were around 140 guests in attendance, of which, around 110 were Spain alumni band members.
The location was the "Barrel Room" of Urban Growler Brewery in St. Paul, Minnesota. I apologize for the poor video quality; It was quite dark in the room at the time of this performance.
And, as I wrote in the video, many in attendance commented on how "all the emotions of the Spain trip" washed back over them upon the conclusion of the "Hail Minnesota!" performance that evening. Most were quite emotional and were singing fully from their hearts.
(Then we all went back to drinking beer!)
Ski-U-Mah and Viva Espana!
Steven Kreitz
Trumpet 1979 - 1984
Spain Reunion 40 Committee Chairperson