IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lou Crist, the “Voice of the Hawkeye Marching Band,” was honored during Friday’s University of Iowa Homecoming Parade, along with the Alumni Band’s flagline, twirlers and drum majors.
Crist is retiring this year after 44 years serving as the band’s announcer, and while his final football game was Iowa’s season opener Aug. 30, 2025, against UAlbany, he had one last hurrah riding in the parade.
“I enjoyed it immensely for all those years,” said Crist, 87, sitting next to his wife, Jan, in the parade car. “I just felt it was time.”
While Crist thought his voice was holding up, he had more difficulty getting around, he said, which contributed to his decision.
The Hawkeye Marching Band warms up before the University of Iowa homecoming parade, Sept. 26, 2025, in Iowa City. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Crist was hired by the late Dr. Morgan Jones, a longtime director of the Hawkeye Marching Band, in 1981 and announced every game since then for the band, up until this month.
He received two degrees from the University of Iowa and marched in the 1959 Rose Bowl parade and bowl game with the Hawkeye Marching Band before becoming a radio announcer.
Hawkeye twirlers, including Diana Reed, Iowa’s Golden Girl from 2002 to 2006, returned for the homecoming parade and the Sept. 27 football game to perform with the Alumni Band. Former drum majors and the band’s flagline also were celebrated during homecoming weekend.
Former Golden Girl Diana Reed practices Sept. 26, 2025, before the University of Iowa homecoming parade. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Cynthia Luse McKeen became one of the members of the band’s first flagline in 1974, after she met the student coordinator during rush week.
“She said I should try out, so I did,” she said, noting that at the time, the members carried flags, but didn’t spin them or otherwise perform with the flags.
Lisa Fisk, another flagline member later in the 1970s, recalled being handed a stack of fabric.
“They said, here, make it yourself, or have someone make it for you,” she said of the members’ “bumblebee” uniforms.
New flags were purchased this year for the alumni band’s homecoming performances, in which 340 band members participated, including 17 former members of the flagline.
That latter number won’t likely increase, as the last flagline performed with the Hawkeye Marching Band at the 1991 Rose Bowl, marking just 16 seasons for the highly visual element of the band to make an appearance.
Journalist Cindy Hadish was a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band flagline and later taught the flagline up until its final performance at the 1991 Rose Bowl.
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