News

June 25, 2000

East Erie Turners Band Members Carry On Tradition despite Dwindling Attendance

The mood at Turnwald will be upbeat this afternoon. When conductor Gary Peterson gives the downbeat, the East Erie Turners concert band, 35 members strong, will fill the air with John Philip Sousa’s “The Thunderer.”

Don Grumblatt will be on the bandstand with his trumpet, just as he has been for 30 years. Wayne Doolittle, with his tenor saxophone, will be seated not far from his daughter, Joyce McAninch and her alto sax.

Traditional musical arrangements and enduring relationships will be the order of the day.

Among members of the band, those traditions are as solid as a whole note, but public interest is fading like the final strains of that Sousa march.

There was a time, Doolittle remembered, when he could see a sea of humanity from his perch at the Turnwald bandstand. Today he expects a “sparse crowd” in comparison.

“The crowds are way down,” he said. “I don’t know if it is a sign of the times or what. I don’t know any good reason” for the declining attendance.

“The biggest crowds were when I first started playing in the band,” said Doolittle who has been a member since 1973. “Now you see few people out there.”

The band, it appears, is suffering from the same affliction as Turnwald itself. People are not using the grounds as they once did, and the private park in Greene Township—a part of East Erie Turners for half a century—is for sale.

East Erie Turners President Jim Mullen said he would like to see a large turnout today for the sake of band members. “They are excellent; they do a tremendous job,” he said. “The people who will be there will appreciate them.”

Mullen said he believes attendance at the concerts and use of the park have declined because “people’s lifestyles have changed, and they don’t do the things they used to, like go to Turnwald.”

He said the possible loss of the band’s summertime venue does not diminish the band’s role in the club. “The band is an important part of the club,” he said. “They draw a lot of old timers, but there aren’t as many of us as there used to be.”

But the band plays on.

Grumblatt said he participates “just for the satisfaction of playing my trumpet.”

“It’s in your blood,” said Charles “Bud” Fisher, the band’s 86-year-old drummer. “You gotta keep that beat.”

McAninch, like the others, doesn’t make a red cent. “I just enjoy it,” she said.

“I really enjoy doing it,” Doolittle echoed. “We all enjoy it. It is a hobby.”

The band, like their music, spans the generations.

The 67-year-old Doolittle, a 27-year veteran of the band, coaxed McAninch, 37, to join about a decade ago. She is one of five women in the band.

“I liked the music, and it was something I could do with my father,” she said. “I have kind of tagged along with him since I was little.”

Doolittle said McAninch has a lot of talent, and he didn’t want to see it wasted. “Besides, it is kind of special to have her in the band,” he said. “It is some quality time we can spend together.”

Jack Heintzel, 63, who has played the clarinet since he was in elementary school, joined the band in the 1960s.

“I played the clarinet because my father played it,” he said. His father, Joe Heintzel, is 92 and played in the band until he was 86. He would still be playing, he said, but he can no longer read music because of failing eyesight.

“I am like everyone else; I just love music,” Jack Heintzel said. “It is fun, it is fulfilling, and it is very satisfying.”

Joe Heintzel played the clarinet for more than 75 years, “just for the joy of playing. All my life I have loved playing the clarinet, and I loved playing in the band,” he said.

The troupe of musicians have been known as the East Erie Turners concert band for 30 years. It was first sponsored by the Siebenbuerger Singing Society, beginning about 1940. It remained at the Siebenbuerger Club for 30 years, but because of a lack of interest and shrinking membership, a new sponsor had to be found, Grumblatt said.

East Erie Turners took over sponsorship in 1970. The cost of supporting the band is minimal, said Peterson, who is not paid to conduct. “We buy some music now and then.”

Joe Heintzel was president of the band when the move was made. “It was decided we would present a spring concert and a fall concert in the club ballroom, and we would give concerts at Turnwald in June, July, and August,” he recalled.

Peterson, like Doolittle, Grumblatt and the others, said he does his part to continue the tradition “for the love of the music. I like music from the 1940s and 1950s, the big bands,” said the 56-year-old conductor, who is also a music teacher at Wilson Middle School.

He admits concert crowds are not what they once were. “The band represents an era during the 1940s and 1950s when clubs were big in the city and swing music and concert music were popular,” he said.

The music that is popular with the younger generations today is not suitable for concerts like those performed by the East Erie Turners band, Peterson said.

But the band still has something to give the community, he said. “It gives the people a chance to enjoy live music, concert music. Those performances seem warm and intimate in a lot of ways,” he said.

“The band members do it for the love of music and the camaraderie of being in a band,” Peterson said. “They just have a desire to play music and to perform.”