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True Buckeye fans get goose bumps when they see Ohio State football players line up and jump around on the ramp before running onto the field at Ohio Stadium.

But one Kenton farm boy set his sights on running out onto the field in a different capacity – as a drum major.

"Twirling was never the first thing on my mind when I was growing up; it’s not the cool thing to do," said Stewart Kitchen, a graduate of Kenton High School (KHS) and a freshman at Ohio State University. In May, he was selected as the university's 55^th drum major.

Kitchen, who started going to OSU football games at the age of 4, said his favorite part of the game was always when the drum major stepped off the ramp before the band. At the 2002 National Championship game in Tempe, Kitchen said he decided right then and there to become a drum major after watching former head drum major Adam Prescott take the field.

"He made it so masculine and athletic," Kitchen said.

While still in high school, the former wrestler and soccer player's cheerleader girlfriend taught him a few gymnastic moves. From there he led KHS’s band as its drum major and enrolled in OSU’s free program that teaches high school students the fundamentals of being a Buckeye twirler. Kitchen said his role model Prescott "taught me the fundamentals of twirling, strutting and the backbend unique to the drum major position."

His dream came true in May when he overtook the incumbent drum and assistant drum major to win the top spot in his first tryout. Kitchen auditioned in front of a packed crowd that included TBDBITL alumni, fans, OSU Athletic Band and a panel of judges.

Kitchen is an animal science major who grew up on a small farm. He showed American Quarter Horses and Jersey dairy cattle at fairs for 4-H. While still in high school, Kitchen bought his own cows from fair winnings and began to breed them – he hopes to sell some heifers and their offspring next year to "help out a poor college student."

Kitchen is also no stranger to the Farm Bureau. "I was in Farm Bureau Youth my junior and senior years in high school in Hardin County. I was our vice president when the program started to take off," he said.

John Torres, an OFBF organization director, has known Kitchen since the days when he was dreaming of becoming drum major.

"I first met Stew a few years ago through my involvement with the Ohio FFA," he said. "He was one of those students that just stood out in the crowd in a very positive way.

"Don't let him fool you in making you think that all of those fancy band moves are easy. He's been practicing for the Ohio State Marching Band's top position for years, putting on shows at FFA camp and the Ohio FFA convention for some time now."

Perhaps Kitchen's "ability to stand out" helped him get selected as OSU's 55th drum major. But his talent carries him through when he’s on the field in front of more than 100,000 loud, sometimes raucous, Buckeye fans.

"My first time in Ohio Stadium when I did the ramp entrance was the most surreal moment of my life," Kitchen said. "The whole time I was running down the ramp I had such an adrenaline rush."

He finished by saying he was just "in the zone" during his debut on the field at Ohio Stadium, a place where many fans have dreamt of being but are satisfied just to watch their favorite team and their favorite band.

Former Ohio Farm Bureau youth member Stew Kitchen was selected as the 55^th drum major to lead the Ohio State University marching band in 2006.