WEST LAFAYETTE | From fun-loving tunes like the Village People's "YMCA" to music from classic movies like "Star Trek" and "Ben Hur," Purdue's annual All-American High School Band Day on Saturday will showcase music bands love to play and Americans love to hear.

Twenty-six bands from as close as West Lafayette High School - two blocks from Ross-Ade Stadium - to as far as Knightstown, Lake Station and Rochester, will fill the field with color and pageantry at the Purdue vs. Northern Illinois game.

Among the Northwest Indiana high schools participating this year are Hobart, Lake Station Edison, Wheeler and Boone Grove.

Current members of the Purdue Band clearly recall how exciting it was to march onto Ross-Ade's field as a high school band member attending Band Day. Purdue Twirler Rachael Bazzell remembers being overwhelmed in a good way by everything she encountered as a high school freshman with the New Prairie High School Marching Cougars from New Carlisle.

"Morning rehearsal was overwhelming. Just being on the field was overwhelming," Bazzell says. "It was the highlight of the fall season for marching band. It was your chance to perform with a Big Ten band and some kids don't get to do that."

Clarinetist Kat Fuhs marched with West Lafayette's Harrison High School Militia Band on the Ross-Ade field for four straight years at Band Day. She and her friends kept their eyes glued to the Purdue Band's every move.

"We liked to see them do their cheers. We liked their uniforms, their hats, their birds (plumes). We sat almost directly above the band so during cheers it was just a big sea of dancing white hats," Fuhs says. "We were very impressed."

Both Bazzell and Fuhs began a relationship with Purdue that led to enrolling at the West Lafayette campus. This year both women will play host for their respective high school bands at Purdue Band Day.

Part of the tradition of Purdue's All-American Band Day has been to invite a veteran educator to serve as guest conductor. This year the honor goes to Ray Cramer, director of band emeritus from Indiana University and a mentor for Purdue Band Director Jay Gephart.

In preparation for Band Day, the high school bands work independently on the music to be performed at half-time. Early Saturday morning, all the bands meet at Purdue's drill field for an intensive rehearsal with Cramer. At half-time, the Purdue All-American Marching Band warms up the crowd with a couple of quick tunes as the high school bands assemble on the sidelines.

When the high school bands enter the field, Ross-Ade will become a sea of musicians stretching from end zone to end zone for the massed bands' performance of the Spanish tune "Espana Cani," the Village People hit "YMCA" and a closing medley from "Star Trek."