One of the wonders of the area where I reside is having the capability to simply walk down the street for a wonderful free of charge evening of great music by our Municipal Band. This band has been around for 101 years, the longest on-going Municipal Band in the land. The music director and conductor Larry has been doing his thing for the band for just over eighteen years currently, and I have seen practically every performance he has been taking part in for the duration of those years. So obviously it is easy to understand 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 all sorts of free music, free movies on the beach and loads of little free rock concerts that happen all summer. But none of these compare with the attendance at the Municipal Band Concerts. They are very popular, with overflow crowds’ at all four significant city parks where they hold them. In fact, it is so packed that I have been doing what countless in our town do on concert day. I have been heading out to the park first thing in the morning to stake out my spot on the lawn with a blanket and chair to tag my spot until I come back in the evening. I reckon it shows something good about our town that fifty people can abandon their chairs and blankets seated on a lawn all day long and they are all still there when we return to the park at 6Pm that night to sit down and delight in the concert.
By the time the concert commences each week, there are generally around 200 people sitting at the lawn, nearly all with picnic baskets of amazing goodies and the ever so illegal wine to drink. I do find it amusing that they invariably announce at the beginning of each show that it is unlawful 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 quite sedate bunch who sit and munch our cold chicken, sip our wine and listen to Star and Stripes Forever. The wildest anyone gets is when just about every Fourth of July show the band asks participants of the assorted armed forces to stand when the band plays the theme for their particular 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 nice to see.
My girlfriend and I have been traveling to these concerts jointly for roughly five years now, ever since we met and recognized we both treasured 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 carry 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 enjoyment this performance gives to our lives.
So I am heartbroken to think that with next week’s performance this wonderful ritual of summer in our town will be ending. The town proclaimed last year that they would be curtailing because of limited money and when the bucket went around for donations almost everyone ponied up in a major way. We raised twice the amount we generally do, but it still wasn’t enough. 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 get togethers, but the musicians are all top performing artists, most are session artists in Hollywood studios when they aren’t at the Municipal Concert performances. Despite the fact that 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 different 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.
