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| After 35 years, German Sitting Band may call it quits |
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| Wednesday, 02 July 2008 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor All good things come to an end, the old saying goes, and this Fourth of July could be it for one of the traditions of the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade. After 35 years , the popular German Sitting Band is expected to call it quits and end a parade tradition that a group of local residents started in 1968 when Forest Lake celebrated its diamond jubilee. “We missed a few years,” said Carl Peikert, one of the founders and the man charged with most of the organizational duties. After 1968, the band went dormant for five years until 1973 when it again found a place in the Fourth of July parade. It hasn’t missed a parade since. Each year, Peikert says, the members gather at the conclusion of the parade and vote on the plans for the next year. Last year the members voted to call it quits after the 35th year of playing its wildly popular style of polkas and waltz music from the back of Wayne Nickelson’s 1937 International truck. “We thought that at 35 years, that would be a good time to end,” Peikert said of the vote last July 4th. While it seems highly likely this will be the German Sitting Band’s swan song, some members are holding out hope that the band may play on. How it started The German Sitting Band formed in the first place to help solve a problem that parades still have today — the lack of bands. With Forest Lake preparing to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 1968, a number of civic leaders with a love of music concocted the idea of a band playing “German” music, Peikert said. “There weren’t a lot of bands around,” Peikert said. He picked up his tuba and put down his medical doctor bag to turn musician for parade duty. With a dozen or so players, the musicians crammed their way onto a trailer and made that first parade. Mitz Setterholm, the late grocery store owner here (Marketplace Foods), wrote out the “German Sitting Band” name on white butcher paper to tell the crowd who they were. The word “Marching” was lined out. For that first parade, Bud Robinson of Forest Lake served as honorary conductor. “It was more of a joke than anything else,” Peikert said of the name and the idea to “strike” the word marching from the band’s name. For Peikert and others, it was a chance to do something positive for their community parade and enjoy the music they loved to play. For a while, the duty wasn’t limited to Forest Lake. The band has also appeared in parades in Lindstrom, North Branch, Stillwater and White Bear Lake. There have even been appearances in the Minneapolis Aquatennial parades. The band was also a social outlet for the many families who were involved. Many would gather for family picnics near the lake and stayed for the Legion’s evening fireworks show. As time moves on, some of the band interest faded and the social gatherings ended, too, as members moved from Forest Lake. “Now we haven’t seen fireworks for a few years,” Peikert said. “Things change.” The players Today, many of the original sitting band members still turn out on the 4th of July to make music and please the crowd. Some new members have joined and the kids of members have signed on from time to time. Only three of the charter German Sitting Band members have passed on — Bill Lundquist, Leonard Tolzmann and Art Forsberg. Trumpet players Larry Patak and Dennis Johnson have moved and no longer play. But many of the originals still ride in the back of Nickelson’s classic antique truck. Peikert will be joined by the following cast of players: •Dick Oase on trumpet •John Morley on trombone •Neil Mattson on baritone •Rollie Nelson on trumpet. •Jerry Peltier on snare drums •Johann Peikert on trumpet •Joan Berry on clarinet •Dorothy Patterson on clarinet •Milt Jorgenson on accordion •Steve Hursh on trumpet Will it end? After last year’s vote, Peikert said the consensus was clear that 2008 would be the final parade for the German Sitting Band. Now, however, some members are wondering if that will happen. Hursh and Mattson are among those. Mattson, a native of Forest Lake who now lives in Lino Lakes, said the thought of ending the parade run is difficult to accept. He is as much of a parade fixture as anyone who has enjoyed a Legion parade. “I think I have missed only four parades since 1938,” Mattson said. “My parents used to make floats and I always wound up riding in the parade. I was pretty young.” He has taken part in 35 parades with the sitting band and also marched in a dozen or so with the Forest Lake City Marching Band. That trend has been seen with a number of sitting band members including Nelson, Peikert and Hursh who have marched with the city band. The sitting band is always near the end of the parade lineup in order for the marchers to catch up with the sitting band. Hursh is also bittersweet about the possibility of the sitting band calling it quits. He joined in the early 1980s. “Dr Peikert called me at the cabinet shop and I haven’t missed a parade since,” Hursh said, commenting on how he came to be involved. He wonders if the members won’t opt for another vote when Friday’s parade comes to an end. Even Carl Peikert agrees there is a chance that there could be a change of heart. “It could be rejuvenated,” he says. Mattson, too, wonders if this will be the final year for the German Sitting Band. “Who knows?” he said. For now, parade fans can take heart that the German Sitting Band will be in action on Friday. Peikert promises the band will be in fine form, playing the old-time waltz and polka music. It will be a good time, at least one more time. “We’ve had a lot of fun,” he says. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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