City band has played on for 95 years

If there’s a playlist for summer, the Port City Band surely has performed the songs on it.

But the number of tunes the band has played, the number of musicians who have taken part in the ensemble and their part in the community — from high school students to senior citizens, people drawn from all walks of life — plays an even bigger role in the group’s place in Port Washington.

The band, which is entering its 95th season, is a living testament to the power of music and the strength of a city that supports it, organizers said.

And it demonstrates the give-and-take relationship between those who make the music and those who hear and appreciate it.

But the City Band is also about more than just music. It’s about bringing people together, creating friendships and bonds that strengthen the community, organizers said.

It’s all a cause for celebration as the band nears the century mark.

Community bands like the City Band used to be common, Mike Bendt, president of the City Band, said.

“They used to be something every city had,” he said. “It was part of the culture and entertainment.”

While community bands are still around, they’re far less common than in the past, he said, and that makes Port’s band unique.

“It’s an Old World thing,” Bendt said. “In times when things are changing so much, it’s comforting. It’s nice to have some constants.

“Sometimes simpler is better. This is entertainment that doesn’t cost you anything. You can come to the park, bring a picnic and enjoy the music.”

The band, Bendt said, often draws a crowd of 100 or more people to Veterans Park for its Sunday concerts.

“We have people who will dance in front of the bandshell when we play. There are people in the condos across the street who sit on their balconies listening, and sometimes they wave,” longtime director Lori MacRae said.

“One Sunday it was drizzling and there were people who would sit in their cars with the windows cracked. When the song was finished, they would beep.”

The City Band has its roots in the Zimmermann band, organized by businessman Martin Zimmermann in 1879, according to a 1985 story in Ozaukee Press. The Zimmermann band met boats bringing visitors to Port Washington and led them along Franklin and Wisconsin streets to Columbia Park at the corner of Wisconsin and Dodge streets.

The band played for high school graduation, social functions and funeral processions, and at the start of World War I would lead men who had been drafted to the railroad station — and welcomed home Joe Osar, the first Port man wounded in action in the war.

In 1927, the city took over sponsorship of the band to ensure it would continue, and the traditions of music in the community continued.

The band continued to play an integral role in the community. When Victory in Europe day came on May 8, 1945, marking the end of World War II, the band led a snake dance as citizens moved through the city to celebrate.

The band was featured in concerts celebrating the city’s centennial and sesquicentennial, and its popular summer concert series has been a tradition for decades.

Today, the city continues to fund the band, and the band expresses thanks at each concert.

“It shows how much the city values music,” MacRae said. “It’s a good recreational activity and it brings people together. It gives older members a connection to the younger generation, and it encourages the kids to stick with it.”

The City Band is, in many ways, a cross-section of Port Washington. Its members span the gamut from high schoolers to senior citizens with a range of experience who come together to celebrate a shared love of music and to find fellowship.

That feeling of friendship and community is easy to see, MacRae said. She recalled one practice when several of the older members couldn’t stop chatting.

“City Band is like middle school with bifocals,” MacRae said. “They were being naughty, so I said, ‘I’m going to call your mother.’ They got such a kick out of that.”

The City Band has about 60 people on its roster, although not everyone shows up for every rehearsal or practice.

The band practices for 90 minutes every Tuesday in June and July and holds four concerts at 6:30 p.m. Sundays in Veterans Park.

The band’s first concert this year will be on June 12, with subsequent concerts on June 26 and July 10 and 24.

The band also performs in the Saukville Fourth of July parade and the Fish Day parade, but as a concession to some of the members’ ages the group doesn’t march — it plays while on a wagon.

MacRae noted that for many people, being in the band is part of family life. Her father played in a community orchestra, and her son Mark is part of the City Band.

It was that way for Bendt, too, who said he joined as a teenager because many of his family members were part of the band. He stopped while establishing his career and his family, but when his daughters were learning to play instruments, he felt himself drawn back to the band.

Later, his daughters joined him.

“I’m so glad I did (join the band),” Bendt said. “I’ve played music I never imagined I would play in my life. It’s just fun stuff.”

  For some people, joining the City Band allows them to rediscover a love of the instruments they enjoyed playing in their youth. For others, it’s a way to practice their skills during what is typically an off season, MacRae said.

Some people join for a year or two, while others keep coming back year after year, like trombone player Bob Goebel, who’s been with the band for more than 60 years.

And playing with people who have a wide range of talent and skills keeps people fresh, MacRae said.

“I know I play better when I play with people who are better than me,” she said. “Here we have a wide range of talents.”

And they play a wide range of music as well.

“When I was hired, I was told, ‘You have to do a polka and you have to do the ‘Stars and Stripes Forever,’” MacRae said.

“There’s such interesting stuff today. I try to do a range of things. We do everything from classical to movie music to Big Band pieces. We try to mix in some popular music, but we look for stuff that will stand the test of time,” she said.

“After 10 years, you don’t want to play ‘Disco Inferno.’ It gets dated.”

This is MacRae’s final season as director of the City Band after 32 years, and that’s made the 95th anniversary year even more special to her.

Members have ordered a plaque for the bandshell declaring it “Home of the Port Washington City Band,” and former member Steve Guokas is writing an original piece for the band to play during its July 24 concert — the last of the season.

But MacRae has one wish for the coming years.

“I’m hoping they invite me back in five years to direct something for the 100th anniversary,” she said.

Anyone interested in joining the band is asked to contact MacRae at (262) 388-8851.