Judy A. Totts | The Gazette

MEDINA — It’s Friday, and as the sun sinks behind the Victorian landscape on the west side of Medina’s town square, members of the Medina Community Band carry their instruments into the gazebo in the park.

Children play tag on the lawn while their parents set up chairs, and the group putting on the ice cream social is doing a brisk business in pie sales.

Amid the cacophonic swirl of random scales as the musicians warm up, one of the trumpet players flirts with a few jazzy little notes, a sassy, brassy counterpoint to the sound of semis shifting gears as they lumber around the square.

When band director Marcus Neiman raises the baton, and the opening bars of the “Star Spangled Banner” bring everyone in the audience to their feet for the first concert of the summer at 8:30 p.m. Friday, they’re carrying on a tradition that began 150 years ago.

Clarinetists, from left, Carl Stefaniak of Hinckley Township, Jennifer Kilbane and Robert Roma-niello, both of Medina and Ben DiFranco of Strongsville, concentrate on their contribution to “Keep the Home Fires Burning” during the May 13 rehearsal of the Medina Community Band at Highland High School in Granger Township. (Judy A. Totts | Gazette)

Each week the musical selections will reflect time periods throughout the band’s history. The program that kicks off the sesquicentennial celebration season will be dedicated to the memory of Brunswick Councilwoman Susan L. Hambley. It includes “Hail Columbia,” “Yankee Doodle,” “Farewell, My Lilly Dear,” “Star Spangled Banner,” “Fan Tan,” “Light Cavalry” and “Carnival of Venice,” among others.

In the beginning

Contra bass clarinetist David Van Doren, 76, of Lodi, who also acts as the unof-ficial historian for the group, said the concerts began with the Medina Silver Cor-net Band.

“There was a whole string of bands through the years,” Van Doren said, ticking off the names: Knights of Pythias Band, the Grand Army of the Republic Band and a Citizens Band. It became known as the Medina Community Band in 1943.

“We have the best support from our community,” said Lee Harper, 69, at a recent rehearsal. Harper, a former member of the Women’s Air Force Band, said before moving to Medina about three years ago, she commuted from Brook Park for almost 20 years to play in the band.

“It really is amazing. They’ve supported us for 150 years, since 1859; of course, we weren’t all there then,” she joked as she threaded her way through the chairs to her seat with the rest of the trombone players.

Harper said in the band’s early days, men dominated the group.

“I think there was one female clarinet player. Now look at how many women there are,” Harper said, gesturing at the musicians.

The band rehearses every Wednesday evening year-round, except August, in the band room at Highland High School. With more than 100 members on the ros-ter, about 30 percent of members come from outside the county, like Bindu Mikkilineni, 25, of Canton, and James Donahue, 26, of Oberlin.

Donahue, one of the newest members who recently auditioned for a spot with the St. Louis Symphony, is a professional musician who said playing in the band keeps ensemble skills polished.

“And it’s fun,” Donahue said as he cleaned his flute during the rehearsal break.

Band members’ ages range from 15 to the mid-80s. There are no auditions, al-though senior high students must have the recommendation of their directors.

“The rest of us just stagger in, introduce ourselves, sit down and play,” Van Doren said with a laugh.

Staying power

Most members described the group as a large family. Like all families, they’re not above a few high inks, like the time the clarinetists, who sit in front of the trombone players — notorious for creating a “splash zone” — donned hats with little umbrellas attached.

Once they join, they tend to stay, Neiman said, like trumpet-player Glenn Baughman, 78, of Wadsworth, who joined the band in 1975.

“I hadn’t played for 20 years and wanted to get back into a band,” said Baughman, a retired research chemist. “Music was a hobby. Now that I’ve retired, this is what I do.”

When trumpeter Paul Rocco, 59, of Medina, stopped coming due to a schedule conflict, Neiman never missed a chance to encourage him to return.

“Every time I ran into him, he asked when I was coming back,” said Rocco, a Medina police officer. “One day on the square, I was writing a ticket, and Marcus tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Come talk to me when you’re through,’ he told me.” Sure enough, when Rocco stepped inside the shop where Neiman waited, the first thing the band director said was, “ ‘When are you coming back?’ ”

Rocco showed up at the next rehearsal and stayed. That was 10 years ago. “It’s my way of relaxing,” Rocco said.

Community bands

Clarinet player Ed Lichtenberg, 65, of Medina, said he thought the community band movement was gaining momentum.

“There are a lot of top-notch community bands in Ohio, and this is one of them,” he said.

Lichtenberg said the increased interest in community bands may be due to the higher visibility of band programs in public schools.

“A lot of people use community bands as a way of connecting with the past,” Lichtenberg said. “You can’t play football when you’re 60, but you can play an instrument.”

“This is a recreation of what they did as kids — and they enjoy playing music for the community,” Neiman said. “That’s how the bands got started, with friends getting together who wanted to play. We’re like a family.”

Neiman referred to the late Cleveland Orchestra conductor George Szell, who often said when musicians listen to each other and understand each other, they are better able to play together.

“The same holds true for a larger group,” he said. “And the bottom line is mak-ing the music sound good.”

Contact Judy A. Totts at (330) 721-4063 or religion@ohio.net.