Story co-produced with Stewart Butler.
Homecoming week at Western Carolina University gathers the Catamount community to celebrate togetherness and the achievements of alumni. There’s one part of the community in particular that brings excitement and life into the occasion – The Pride of the Mountain Marching Band.
From the Rose Bowl Parade in 2011 to the two appearances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2014 and 2019, coast to coast is still too small for the POTM. They will soon take their music overseas to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ireland on March 17, 2024. Yet, the band still makes time to be the sound track for homecoming week.
The band’s importance to the celebration was evident. The thunderous music and marching brought electric excitement to spectators at the parade, tailgate party, and the football game. Faces lit up and cheers erupted when they played.
It is no surprise that the band draws so many to the school. When asked, most members interviewed said that POTM was a deciding factor in their choosing to attend WCU. Both current member Josh Starnes and Alumnus Reggie Cline compared the band to a family. According to Cline, that’s the secret ingredient that makes the group so remarkable.
“The camaraderie of POTM and the fun, and accepting nature of POTM as a unit is what makes it the wonderful thing that it is,” Cline said.
