Bob Foos
It was a perfect fall day for the first community band concert in more than 70 years in Memorial Park.
Reviving the Past was the theme of the concert, which was performed by The Heartland Concert Band, in cooperation with the Webb City Area Genealogical Society.
Two regular WCAGS volunteers, Karen Auburger and Amber Dole, came up with the idea of reviving the concert in the park. They were intrigued while discovering historical items and articles about the citizens’ tax support of the Webb City Municipal Band, which played into the early 1940s.
Dole is also president of The Heartland Concert Band, which helped get it involved.
Joplin Globe historian Bill Caldwell’s Sept. 19 column about Robert Toutz Jr.’s direction of bands for 30 years was the main spark that led to this year’s concert.
One of the items Auburger and Dole found was an ebony-and-ivory conductor’s baton used by Harry Hulett to direct The Citizens Band of Webb City in the park. A picture of him holding the baton dates back to 1896.
Another reason for excitement was the revitalization of the municipal band’s bass drum. Its drumheads were replaced, and Leslie Clark, of the Webb City Public Library, painted one side to match the original.
Aaron Power, director of the Heartland band, used Harry Hulett’s historic baton to direct the band’s first piece, “The Star Spangled Banner.” The baton was then placed back in its case for display with other artifacts in the bandstand.
The band played types of pieces that would likely have been performed by the municipal band, including three marches. Other selections of the era were a ragtime song by Percy Wenrich, “The Smiler,” “Put On Your Old Grey Bonnett,” and “Anything Goes.”
After intermission, the program included “Cities of Route 66,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” and a medley of Elvis Presley songs.
