BGSU alumna Paula DeSalvatore '81, center, will return to Homecoming 2026 for the 45th year in a row to perform with fellow Falcon Marching Band alumni, joined by her sons, Adam Buchanan '08, left, and Tyler Buchanan '13, right.(Contributed photo)
A Falcon Marching Band tradition spanning over four decades
For 45 consecutive years, BGSU alumna Paula DeSalvatore ’81 has returned to Homecoming to perform with fellow Falcon Marching Band alumni. She earned a coveted spot in the band as a freshman in 1977, an accomplishment that has stayed with her through every stage of life. Every fall, DeSalvatore looks forward to returning to her alma mater to reconnect with the BGSU traditions she first experienced as a student more than four decades ago.
Key Highlights
45 years of Homecoming tradition
Paula DeSalvatore ’81 has returned to BGSU Homecoming every year since graduating to perform with fellow Falcon Marching Band alumni, with this year marking her 45th consecutive year.
Earning her place in the band
As a freshman in 1977, DeSalvatore earned one of just 20 saxophone spots and says that same feeling of accomplishment returns every time she performs at Homecoming.
Returning to Bowling Green
Before DeSalvatore graduated in 1981, she promised to return to Bowling Green one day. She moved back to the city nine years ago and can now hear the Falcon Marching Band practicing from her apartment.
“I just love the University. I don’t know if I can explain it. It’s a feeling of pride, and every time you play the fight song or alma mater, you get that same good feeling again. I love playing with the band every year, and I’ll keep doing it until I can’t.”
PAULA DESALVATORE '81
FALCON MARCHING BAND ALUM
Paula DeSalvatore ‘81 has never missed a Bowling Green State University Homecoming in the more than four decades since she graduated.
Every year, the former Falcon Marching Band member returns to perform with fellow alumni during the Homecoming halftime show.
This year will mark her 45th consecutive year performing.
“I just love the University,” she said. “I don’t know if I can explain it. It’s a feeling of pride, and every time you play the fight song or alma mater, you get that same good feeling again.”
This year, DeSalvatore will be among the nearly 300 alumni band members joining the 600-member Falcon Marching Band, now America’s largest college marching band, for a special pregame performance during Homecoming.
For DeSalvatore, being selected to join the Falcon Marching Band in 1977, when try-outs were required and spots were limited, remains one of her proudest accomplishments – one that has stayed with her through every stage of life – career, children, retirement and everything in between.
DeSalvatore knew earning a spot wouldn’t be easy. She spent the entire summer before her freshman year perfecting the 221/2-inch step used by the Falcon Marching Band.
The competition that year, according to an article in The BG News, was particularly competitive among the saxophonists, which is DeSalvatore’s instrument.
The Sept. 18, 1977, article reported that 23 rookies and 17 veterans were vying for just 20 saxophonist spots.
“When I made it, I can’t tell you how excited I was to be in a Division I marching band,” she said. “That kind of accomplishment in my life was huge. To know that I could dream it, practice and actually do it was so profound to me as a 17-year-old. Every time I step on that field, I get that same happiness, joy and pride back.”
At the time, DeSalvatore’s saxophone squad leader – now called a section leader – was Kathy McGrady ‘81, the current president of the BGSU Band Alumni Society. The two still reunite every year at Homecoming.
“The people are what draw so many of us back year after year,” McGrady said. “It’s such a wonderful feeling knowing that after all these years, Paula still has such fond memories of her time in band and continues to come back.”
For the past several years, DeSalvatore’s two sons have joined her on the field at Homecoming, with Adam Buchanan ‘08 playing the cymbals and Tyler Buchanan ‘13 playing the trumpet.
“I got to march with them when they were in the band, and now we all get to march together as alumni,” she said.
DeSalvatore’s connection extends beyond the band to BGSU and the Bowling Green community. Years ago, she promised herself she would someday return to the city.
She kept that promise, moving back to Bowling Green nine years ago. Today, she can hear the Falcon Marching Band play from her apartment.
“I’m so happy to be back here,” DeSalvatore said. “I love playing with the band every year, and I’ll keep doing it until I can’t.”
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Updated: 09/21/2026 05:44PM