BROWNSTOWN
The Columbus City Band has had to deal with a lot of things — often weather-related — in the 14 years it has been performing its patriotic concert in late June on the courthouse square in Brownstown.
Although it’s early summer, the weather can be quite hot some years. Other years, there has been rain, and sometimes, there has even been a threat of thunderstorms.
This year’s concert, conducted Sunday at Heritage Park across Walnut Street from the courthouse, presented band members with a new challenge — how to get the percussion instruments to Brownstown after someone stole the band’s storage trailer.
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“Sometime in the last four weeks, it was stolen,” band Director Steve McGrew said just minutes before the concert was set to begin. “We didn’t find out about it until today, so we’re trying to patch things together.”
The trailer only contained a podium and conductor’s stand for McGrew and nothing else, but it was instrumental in hauling the timpani, bass drums and other percussion equipment to concerts.
A patchwork of band members and volunteers had to round up trucks and a trailer to make a run to Columbus at the last minute to pick up percussion equipment and music stands for the 65-plus members of the band.
Percussionist Ron Duncan of Seymour was the one who discovered the trailer was missing.
“I went to where the trailer was stored at Walesboro and found it wasn’t there,” he said.
Fortunately, he had his truck because he was going to pull the trailer.
Duncan also contacted fellow percussionist Richard Branaman, who is the band director at Brownstown Central middle and high schools.
Branaman and percussionist Doug Pogue, associate minister at Brownstown Christian Church, used a trailer from the church, and a third pickup was used to get as much of the equipment to Heritage Park as possible.
“We were short some of the percussion stuff that we normally bring,” Duncan said. “We knew we didn’t have the room for it, but it worked out.”
McGrew thanked the band members for pulling the show off on time.
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” he said. “These people know how to solve problems. They were already on it before I knew there was a problem. That’s a good thing for me.”
It also was a good thing for Madge Fountain of Brownstown, who attends the concert every year.
“I just come every year,” she said. “I just enjoy them every time I see them at the fair and I see them here.”
Fountain said the move from the courthouse lawn to Heritage Park is nice.
“Especially for them,” she said. “They weren’t out in the sun.”
Sunday’s concert marked the second time the band had performed at the stage at Heritage Park. In fact, the band was the first group to perform there after it opened in the spring of 2017.
McGrew said the acoustics are great at the park, and Duncan agreed.
He said playing on the stage, which has a roof, is better for the band.
“We can hear better,” Duncan said. “When you’re outdoors, the sound just goes up and out, so we have a hard time hearing across the band. This allows us to hear better.”
The roof provides shade, which is something that the courthouse lawn offered until some of the bigger trees were taken down in recent years, he said.
The band, which features a number of Jackson County residents besides McGrew, Branaman and Duncan, began performing a patriotic concert on the courthouse lawn on the last Sunday in June 2004.
The band also played at the watermelon festival in September of that year and in 2005 and has been performing a concert at the Jackson County Fair for years.
Timothy Ross of Columbus and his daughter, Bella Ross, made the trip down to hear his son and her brother, 14-year-old Stephen Ross.
“I was real excited,” Timothy said. “The band is awesome. I just enjoyed every number.”
Stephen said he had a good time performing with the band.
“I think it was pretty cool,” he said.
This band’s concert at this year’s fair is set for 7 p.m July 24 at the pavilion.