Who is this idiot on my field?
That was the thought alumna Mary Houhanisin had when she met the love of her life.
Mary, the first female drum major in 1995 for the Spartan Marching Band, was directing a rehearsal like any other day.
Kris Hulliberger, who was the Sparty mascot at the time, interrupted the rehearsal and confronted Mary.
“The feeling when both of us left was, ‘wow, what a bossy jerk,’” Kris said. “We were both there in our elements — I was there with my guys, she was there with the band.”
Despite a rocky start, Kris and Mary’s relationship would eventually lead to courtship, a proposal and marriage most Spartan couples can only dream of.
Love at First Sight
After their first run-in, Mary and Kris did not meet again until the Aloha Bowl of 1997.
After the football game, Mary heard commotion at the back of the marching band bus, where Sparty had taken his head off.
“From there, it was kind of like a slow movie — the lights dimmed and the spotlight fell on Kris, and I had to meet him,” Mary said. “As cheesy as that sounds, that is exactly what happened.”
DeAnn Schwarz was Mary’s good friend and a fellow member of the Spartan Marching Band at the time.
“In Hawaii for the bowl trip, Mary and I ended up hanging out with Kris quite a bit,” Schwarz said. “They seemed to have a connection.”
Sparty ended up visiting with Mary and the Spartan Marching Band for the remainder of the trip.
“After that, we were kind of inseparable,” Kris said. “Back at MSU, we started hanging out, and would you believe it, nine months later we were engaged. And then a year and a half later, we got married.”
A Big Ten Courtship
Back in East Lansing, Kris and Mary spent most of their free time with each other.
Schwarz was also Mary’s roommate during the time Kris and Mary were dating.
“Mary really liked Kris and she thought she saw something special with him,” Schwarz said. “I think they were meant to be.”
Sparty soon became a regular at Spartan Marching Band rehearsals.
Kris and Mary often had lunch together at the Union and walked around campus together, particularly through the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden.
Because of Mary and Kris’ positions, they were able to travel to many MSU events.
The couple traveled to the basketball Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, ESPN headquarters, and the first and second rounds of NCAA Tournaments.
“Dating someone in that environment is pretty wonderful,” Kris said. “You’re getting a trip and you get to go somewhere. Getting to do that with your girlfriend, and then doing it with someone that you would share the rest of your life with, is even more wonderful.”
Once they started dating, Mary signed up to be a Sparty escort with the MSU Student Alumni Foundation. Sparty escorts travel with Sparty to help him with events.
For the next summer, the pair traveled across lower Michigan for a multitude of Sparty events.
“We have had some wonderful adventures being a part of Michigan State University,” Mary said. “If there were ever two people who enjoyed every single moment of being there, it was the two of us. It was just so much fun.”
Engagement
In the fall of 1998, Kris purchased a brick at the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden, a place Kris and Mary would often visit during their class breaks.
When the brick came in on a Saturday morning, Kris told Mary that Sparty had an event at the garden.
Kris brought Mary to the pavilion area of the garden. A bouquet of roses lay on top of the brick, which read, “Mary, Will You Marry Me? Love Kris.”
She said yes.
The special moment was photographed by Kris’ friend and fellow Sparty mascot, Regis Buckley.
“It was a special moment,” Buckley said. “Of course, it was a surprise for Mary.
“These are going to be pictures that you’re going to take that will last forever, for future grandkids and down the road. With the brick, it was one of those things that will live through the end of time.”
On June 10, 2000, MSU’s first female drum major and Sparty were officially married.
Mary and Kris held their wedding at a small Lutheran church in Lansing. The wedding included a custom-made drum major and Sparty cake topper.
In addition to being their engagement photographer, Buckley was also the best man in Kris and Mary’s wedding.
“They’re truly in love,” Buckley said. “Kris and Mary are such great people, and it was great to be able to share such a special moment with them.”
The wedding reception fittingly took place on MSU’s campus at the Kellogg Center’s Big Ten Room.
And of course, Sparty himself was in attendance.
The wedding party visited several MSU attractions, including their engagement brick and the Sparty statue.
“There is a great picture of all of us on top of Sparty,” Mary said. “Kris picked me up in my dress and we were standing on Sparty together. That was a lot of fun.”
A Family Bleeding Green and White
Fast forward 15 years, and Kris and Mary are now the Hulliberger family.
The couple has a 9-year-old daughter named Hannah and a 6-year-old son named Kyle.
“Our kids are growing up in a Spartan environment and they enjoy going to the games and being a part of our team,” Mary said. “One of the first songs they could both sing when they were little was the Michigan State fight song.”
The Hulliberger youngsters, not surprisingly, also have an affinity for the Spartan Marching Band. Mary and Kris take an annual trip to see the band for their preseason show and at Adams Field before kickoff.
Hannah has aspirations of being the drum major and Kyle wishes to be Sparty one day, their parents said.
“They very much bleed green and white already,” Mary said. “I don’t know what we would do if they decided to go to the other school.”
Hannah and Kyle love being a part of the MSU atmosphere on campus. They take great pride in knowing their father was Sparty and their mother was the first female drum major, they said.
These smaller Hullibergers have inherited Kris and Mary’s love for MSU, and love telling the “My dad was Sparty, my mom was the first female drum major” story as much as their parents do.
“It’s cool because I go to school and we’re talking about, ‘do you like Michigan or State?’ and I get wrapped up into the whole Sparty and drum major story,” Hannah said. “It’s my favorite story to tell.”
