Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Jim Gessell may be gone, but the former mayor and city council member in Forest Lake is not forgotten. When The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra performs at Forest Lake High School on Tuesday, June 5, a concert segment will be devoted in Gessell’s memory.

Jim Lindstrom, vocal music instructor at the high school and concert promoter, said the segment of big band songs is the school’s way of saying thanks to Gessell, who died last August after a short fight with cancer.

It was Gessell who provided the inspiration to bring the Glenn Miller band to Forest Lake two years ago for a concert. He was more than the inspiration as he was also a tireless promoter and ticket salesman for the 2005 concert, Lindstrom said this week.

“Jim was really the first one with the idea for the concert,” Lindstrom said. “It was his brainchild.”

Gessell, who lived in St. Paul at the time of his death, was a Fargo, ND native who made Forest Lake his second home in the late 1960s. He went on to serve on the Forest Lake City Council and served two terms as mayor.

Long a fan of the big band sound and a special follower of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Gessell made it his mission in 2005 to help Lindstrom and the high school bring the band to Forest Lake.

“It had always been a lifetime dream of his to get them here,” Lindstrom said. “He told me he would do whatever we wanted and he did,” the music teacher said. “I couldn’t keep up with him. It was almost a full-time job. Jim wanted it (the concert) to be great and it was.”

Lindstrom said he has been in contact with the band and its director, Larry O’Brien, who was a friend of Gessell’s. Lindstrom said the band plans to dedicate a segment of the concert in Gessell’s memory and will play some of his favorite songs during that time.

Ticket update

As of Monday of this week, Lindstrom said about half of the 720 tickets available for the 7:30 p.m. concert on June 5 remain. Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at the following locations in Forest Lake:

•The Yellow Bus at The Lake Shoppes, 826 S. Lake St. (651-464-2112); •The Music Connection, 77 SW 8th Ave., (651-464-5252); •The Forest Lake High School Activities Office, 6101 Scandia Trail N., Forest Lake, MN 55025 (651-982-8525).

Mail order tickets are available through the activities office at the address above. Include a check made out to Forest Lake High School Glenn Miller Concert for the amount of the number of tickets requested. The June 5th concert is a benefit for the high school vocal music department, Lindstrom said.

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