Mr. Schreier Interview

Alongside the memorial of Troy Driggers, what does the Driggers' Pin mean to you?

honestly, it- I never knew troy, I was three when he passed away, so I never knew him, and to me, its more of a membership pin than a memorial pin, and I think it's morphed into that from what was originally meant for it. To give you some history, when Troy passed away in 1982, they wore the black and gold ribbon, like you got during camp, and I dont know how or why, but it continued after that season, I think because Troy was such an important figure in the creation of the marching band, and we decided to make it into something more special. We wanted to keep the legacy of the cloth pin, so now we have it given at the beginning of camp, and when you become a knight you are given the gold pin, not quite as an initiation, but to show that you've gone through something together.

Why is it important to keep the Driggers' Pin Tradition going?

Now since it's become a membership pin, used symbolically as that, now since its entrenched in tradition, its important that we continue that. For tradition, honoring those before, bringing in those after, as a connection to the experience.

Is there anything else I should know about the pin, Driggers Field, or Troy Driggers?

Troy and Gardner were responsible for recruiting the band, finding people to start the band. No social media or internet, they had to go through physical files. Without his death we probably wouldn't have looked at him with as much importance as we do now.