Just one of the pleasures of the area where I reside is being able to just simply go walking down the street for a amazing free of charge evening of fantastic music by our Municipal Band. This band has been in existance for 101 years, the longest on-going Municipal Band in the country. The music director and conductor Larry has been doing his thing for the band for just over eighteen years at present, and I have seen virtually every presentation he has been involved in for the period of those years. So not surprisingly it is understandable if I am feeling sad nowadays to learn that our city just cannot afford to continue on with the band and this year is the ultimate performance for our annual Summer Music Concert Series.
In our town we have all sorts of free music, free movies on the beach and a lot of little free rock concerts that take place all summer. But none of these equate to the attendance at the Municipal Band Concerts. They are very famous, with overflow crowds’ at all four good sized 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 initial thing in the morning to stake out my space on the lawn with a blanket and chair to indicate my spot until I come back in the evening. I guess it shows 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 come back to the park at 6Pm that night to sit and enjoy the concert.
By the time the concert starts each week, there are typically around 200 people sitting at the lawn, most with picnic baskets of wonderful goodies and the ever so illegal wine to drink. I do find it humorous that they always announce at the beginning of each show that it is against the law to consume alcohol on park premises while everyone inside of earshot of the statement is uncorking their wine bottles and serving them into wine glasses to pass around. But not a soul has ever gotten rowdy, we are a fairly calm group 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 members of the assorted 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 quite loudly, even if they are tone deaf. But if is very small-town and sweet to see.
My girlfriend and I have been attending these concerts with each other for about five years now, since that time we met and recognized we both adored these concerts. She doesn’t always get out of work in time to be there at the start, 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 shop and heading out our way. We meet in the park, with her little dog Susie tightly in check, and smile at the pleasure this performance brings to our lives.
So I am heartbroken to think that with next week’s performance this delightful ritual of summer in our town will be no more. The town announced last year that they would be cutting back because of limited finances and when the bucket went around for contributions most people ponied up in a major way. We raised twice the amount we generally do, but it still wasn’t sufficient. High schools did car washes and little old ladies organised rummage sales, but it nevertheless wasn’t enough. They talked over it for three months at town hall gatherings, but the musicians are all top performing artists, many are session artists in Hollywood studios when they aren’t at the Municipal Concert performances. Even though they wanted to come down in their fees, they are all union and can’t bring it down any more 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 diverse and enjoyable 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.
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