Vintage Band Music Festival 2010, Northfield Minnesota

5 bands give over 50 concert in four days. Held in conjunction with the Historic Brass Society’s Early Brass Festival. http://wwwvintagebandfestival.org

This international music event will be held in Northfield, the historic river town known for its art, antiques, pubs, and restaurants.

The festival includes more than 15 European and American bands with over 40 outdoor concerts in four days. Each day begins with noon concerts in several city parks, with continuous music into the night.

The Vintage Band Music Festival ia a part of a multi-week arts festival in Northfield called ArtSwirl 2010 which also featured graphic arts, dance, theater and music. The 2010 Vintage Band Festival will be held in conjunction with the Historic Brass Society’s Early Brass Festival.

• Admission to almost all Vintage Band Festival events was officially free, but attendees made donations to help defray our expenses. Some events, because of limited space, required advanced reservations.

•Donations are Welcome! Please help!:

• A donation of $25 is the equivalent of a concert ticket. You receive a souvenir pin.
• A donation of $75 was the equivalent of a festival pass. You receive a souvenir collector VBF pin and a ticket to all concert and dance events.
• A “silver cornet” donation of $150 made you a sponsor of the festival. You receive passes and tickets to all reserved/limited space events and receptions, a free t-shirt, a souvenir collector VBF pin, a souvenir poster, and our sincere thanks!
• A “golden euphonium” donation of $250 made you a founder of the festival. You received all passes and souvenir gifts, our sincere thanks, you will be invited join the the international musicians and scholars for a special evening reception. Larger donations are also welcome.

• Festival Headquarters during the Festival Week festival events registration, brochure, information, and a warm hello.
• More than 15 bands -over 40 outdoor concerts over 4 days!
• Most festival concerts presented free of charge. Festivalgoers, however, make donations to help us with expenses.
• The performances take place in many outdoor locations all around Northfield. Sites included Bridge Square, Way Park, Odd Fellows Park, Northfield Retirement Center, Riverside Park, Veterans’ Memorial Park, Central Park, and others.
• Many attendees bring a bicycle and a folding chair . This is the best way to get around to the concert sites. Most of the bands are e dressed in 19th Century clothing-and many festival goers did the same.
• Northfield had fantastic food available from the numerous restaurants and coffee shops.
• Hotels, motels, and B&Bs in Northfield and nearby communities
• Northfield Historical Society will present a special band history exhibit and presentations
• Schubert Club/Kugler Collection Historical Instrument Exhibit was at Northfield Arts Guild Gallery
• Mark Chalabala’s Band History Photography Exhibit was set up during the festival.
• Dancing in the streets! There were several opportunities for polka dancing and 19th century cotillion dancing.
• Live band music in taverns and restaurants during the Festival evenings.

Warren “Sarge” Heckner

The 1st Brigade Band and the music world lost a good friend at the end of October this year.

Warren played cornet in the 1st Brigade Band for almost 40 years. He was an important part of the band and its history. Along with his wife Audrey, he became the beating heart of the band during its difficult time of reorganization in the early 70s when he traveled the eastern part of the country searching for antique horns for the band. It is due to his efforts that the band exists today.

Warren was a quiet, unassuming guy who always did "his job" for the band, whether it was playing the cornet or cleaning the restrooms in the band building. That came from his experience as a Marine where doing your job was something that was expected of you. He never had to be asked, he just did "his job".

In the later years of his life, after Audrey died in 1997, I got to know "Sarge" better when we carpooled every Friday night to band practice in Watertown, Wi.

We didn’t talk so much about music as we did our military experiences. Not many people know that "Sarge" landed with the Marines on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, on our first offensive action in the Pacific in 1942. He also landed on Bougainville and told me about the battle of Savo in "Iron Bottom Sound".

I know that Sarges favorite Civil War tune was "Oft in the Stilly night", but when I think of Sarge, I will hear The Vacant Chair.

We will miss you Sarge!

Collectors I have known

There are two schools of thought here and one most collectors have pondered at one time or another. The most difficult decision for me was when I had to decide what to do with my box valve cornet. I acquired it in 1970 at an antique shop in Illinois and since it looked so strange, I wanted to research box valves. I soon discovered that box valves are the rarest kind of valves and finding an instrument in a collection was almost impossible. In the early 1970s while visiting Germany, I found two instruments at a museum in Nuremberg that were made by the inventor of the box valve, Schuster, in the 1820s. From the U.S. Patent office, I acquired a copy of the Quimbey patent for horns they intend to make in the 1870, but in searching for box valved horns I discovered that there were very few in existence. One in a Museum in Rhineland Germany and another at the Shrine to Music in Vermilion S.D.

Since my instrument was incomplete (missing the lead pipe, one valve slide and one square valve mechanism, I had nothing to go on in completing the restoration. Finally, Byron Autrey attempted to recreate the missing 1st valve mechanism and was quite successful, but would not attempt further restoration as he had nothing to use as a model. Bob Pallansch in Virginia also would not attempt it for the same reason

I have finally given up my quest for restoration and I believe there are probably no more than ten existing horns with box (square) valves in collections today. So, this mission is unaccomplished unless there is someone out there with another example of a horn with box valves. The valve was invented by Schuster in the early 1820s and Quimbey was the last to market a successful horn. The box valve seems to have died a quiet death in 1870, never to be heard from again. Just another dilemma for a horn collector desiring a restoration.