An Old-Fashioned Picnic on the Square
A large crowd helped the Oskaloosa Municipal Band kick off 100 years of the current bandstand.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The 100th anniversary celebration of the bandstand continues on Thursday night. The Mahaska County Cattlemen’s Association is teaming up with the Oskaloosa Music Boosters to raise money for Oskaloosa’s K-12 music programs. They will be serving steak sandwiches, jumbo hot dogs, chips and beverages from 6 to 8 p.m. In addition, the Altrusa club will be selling baked goods, raising money for local music groups .
Prior to the City Band’s performance, there will be a variety of musicians performing throughout the square, including, but not limited to: Rex McFall on harmonica, Beth Brostrom, Terry DeJong and a percussion group, and Oskaloosa Orchestra students under the direction of Mr. Bruce McClellan. This night promises to be an extra special night of music.
At 8 p.m. the City Band will begin their 3rd performance of the summer. Director, Bruce Peiffer has selected some very familiar tunes this week. This week’s marches include: “Salute To The Colors” and “Miss Liberty” by Karl King; and “Semper Fidelis” by John Philip Sousa.
This week’s theme could be described as a mixture of movies and summer travels. The band will begin their journey “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, as they travel back in time to 1939 during the release of “The Wizard of Oz”.
The band will play a Spanish Folk tune, “Malagueña”. In addition to being a favorite of jazz and marching bands, this song was made famous in 1960 by recording artist, Connie Francis.
Next the band will travel the sea, as Andrea Dursky solos on “The Little Mermaid”, a medley of tunes from the 1989 Disney motion picture. Once we cross the ocean, the audience may imagine hearing Scottish bagpipes in the distance as the band plays “The Great Highland Pipes” by Mike Hannickel.
From Scotland, our travels take us to Ireland, the birth place of Van Morrison, who wrote and recorded “Brown Eyed Girl” in 1967, before moving to New York. “Brown Eyed Girl” was also featured in the 1989 motion picture, “Born on the 4th of July” starring Tom Cruise and the 1991 motion picture, “Sleeping With The Enemy” starring Julia Roberts.
Continuing with the movie theme, “Great Movie Marches” is a medley of “The River Kwai March”, Colonel Hathi’s March”, “Star Trek The Motion Picture” and “Raiders’s March”.
“Sweet Caroline” was written and released in 1969 by Neil Diamond. More recently, it has gained popularity at sporting events around the country. It is now a favorite of the city band, too.
Returning closer to home, the band will play two tunes published by Oskaloosa’s own, Barnhouse Publishing. “Explorations” is a fun tune by Ed Huckeby. David Shaffer’s “Last Ride of the Pony Express” also falls in the category of a “Fiery Overture Based on a Western Theme”.
This week, we will meet the saxophone section. Alto saxophone player, Ila Ruby, is in her 24th year with the band. She is retired and likes to travel, read, and plays her saxophone regularly at Gateway Church of the Nazarene.
Adam Hammes will be a senior at Oskaloosa this fall. This is his 4th year in the band and he is a second generation band member. He is proud to say he is the youngest alto sax player to be admitted into the band recently.
Gidget Utterback hails from Sigourney and is in her 5th year with the band. She recently graduated with a music education degree from Central College and will be teaching elementary music at Keota Elementary and St. James Elementary in Washington this fall.
Tenor saxophone player, Minnie Richardson is in her 15th year with the band. She is a stay-at-home parent and enjoys reading, volunteering, and driving her children to and from activities.
Cheryl Mitchell is in her 30th year. She is a bookkeeper and keeps very busy. She noted her daughters played in the band with her when they were in high school.
Ben Akers is in his 3rd year with the band. He will be a senior at Oskaloosa High School this fall and works part-time at Hy-Vee.
Tyler Dursky is in his first year with the band. He will be a junior at Oskaloosa High School this fall. He is a 3rd generation band member and states, playing in the band “is a lot of fun and it is a family tradition”.
John Hansen is in his second year playing baritone saxophone in the band. He will be a junior at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN this fall, where he is majoring in Creative Writing. This summer he is an intern at the Wilcox Library at William Penn.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary, each week, there will be a prize drawing near the end of the concert. This week’s featured sponsor is the Oskaloosa Chamber. This week’s prize is an Oskaloosa afghan and tote bag. Please sign up at the table at the base of the bandstand. Each week, the winner, who must be present to win, will be announced prior to the playing of the National Anthem.
