Tailgate tales

Last year, our colleagues at UR Now ran a story about a group of 1985 alumni who have been tailgating at Spider football games for four decades. Not long after, an email showed up in UR Now’s inbox. It began, “While quite impressive, it pales in comparison to our group of over 50 years!”

The sender was Ron Bessent, R’70. The competition he hinted at was definitely friendly. “We started our tailgating ritual in 1970, the year I graduated, and continued nonstop (except for COVID) every year since,” he wrote. “The brothers of Phi Kappa Sigma and friends have been together for every home, and many away, games since then.”

The group has another claim to fame. In the 1990s, they started the UR Alumni Kazoo Band, a mainstay at Spider games in old City Stadium for many years.

The band went from famous to Collegian-famous when the student newspaper profiled them in 2001. Student reporter Jennifer Brown quoted Bessent saying, “It is amazing how otherwise responsible adults ... can be so crazy during football season.”

Late in the 2024 football season, a staffer from this magazine dropped by their tailgate to say hello. As the Spiders and William & Mary warmed up inside the stadium, Bessent and crew were in their usual spot: Lot C, space 209. The landmark to look for was a steaming pot of oysters. Among the crew of 15 that day were fraternity brothers, at least one former cheerleader, and more than a few folks happily retired from a variety of fields. Tailgating is a big part of how they keep up their friendship.

Bessent’s wife, Linda — a UVa grad, forgive her — said her husband has missed only four home games in 55 years: two because of family weddings and two because of the couple’s commitments as shag dance instructors.

This fall, the group will begin its 56th season tailgating together. “We’ve been through it all,” Bessent said. “We’ve done this through the heat and hurricanes and snowstorms and everything else. No matter what, we’re here on a home Saturday.”