Evenings with the Band

One of the pleasures of the town where I live is being able to just simply go walking down the street for a excellent free evening of excellent music by our Municipal Band. This band has been in existence for 101 years, the longest on-going Municipal Band in the united states. The music director and conductor Larry has been doing his thing for the band for approximately eighteen years at present, and I have seen practically every presentation he has been involved in for the duration of those years. So not surprisingly it is understandable if I am feeling sad right now to learn that our city just cannot afford to continue with the band and this year is the final performance for our yearly Summer Music Concert Series.

In our town we have an amazing array of free music, free movies on the beach and a lot of little free rock concerts that happen all summer. But probably none of these compare with the attendance at the Municipal Band Concerts. They are very popular, with overflow crowds’ at all four large city parks where they hold them. In fact, it is so packed that I have been doing what so many in our town do on concert day. I have been heading out to the park first thing in the early morning to stake out my spot on the lawn with a blanket and chair to mark my spot until I return in the evening. I reckon it states something good about our town that fifty people can leave their chairs and blankets seated on a lawn right through the day and they are all still there when we get back to the park at 6Pm that night to sit and take pleasure in the concert.

By the time the concert commences each week, there are usually around 200 people sitting at the lawn, many with picnic baskets of fantastic goodies and the very illegal wine to drink. I do find it humorous that they always announce at the outset of each show that it is illegal to consume alcohol on park premises while everyone inside earshot of the statement is uncorking their wine bottles and serving them into wine glasses to pass around. But no one has ever gotten rowdy, we are a pretty sedate lot who sit and munch our cold chicken, sip our wine and listen to Star and Stripes Forever. The wildest anyone gets is when every Fourth of July show the band asks participants of the various armed forces to stand when the band plays the theme for their individual branch of the military. Some get very teary-eyed and many sing along very loudly, even if they are tone deaf. But if is very small-town and fairly sweet to see.

My girlfriend and I have been attending these concerts together for approximately five years now, since that time we met and became aware we both adored these concerts. She doesn’t always get out of work in time to be there at the outset, so I will put the food together in the afternoon while I am writing and take it to the park as she is closing up her store and heading out our way. We meet in the park, with her little dog Susie securely in check, and smile at the happiness this performance brings to our lives.

So I am sorry to think that with next week’s performance this splendid ritual of summer in our town will be no more. The town announced last year that they would be curtailing because of restricted money and when the bucket went around for contributions most people ponied up hugely. We raised twice the amount we generally do, but it still wasn’t sufficient. High schools did car washes and little old ladies held rummage sales, but it nonetheless wasn’t enough. They talked over it for three months at town hall get togethers, but the musicians are all top performers, a lot of them are session artists in Hollywood studios when they aren’t at the Municipal Concert performances. Although they wanted to go down in their fees, they are all union and are not able to bring it down any further than they have. So this is the end of an era. And we will be all the poorer to be without it.

When Deni isn’t lamenting the loss of her Municipal Band, she is writing blogs about many distinct and fun things. Some of those include a blog about how to use metal bandsaw blades correctly, the best way to build a brick retaining wall for your garden and what the real estate market is like in Monroe County in Southern Florida.