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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fc8c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11"><B>   </B><A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory"><B><IMG SRC="0420b120.png" border=0 width="11" height="18" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="18"><B>  </B><A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OHS Class 0f 56"><B><IMG SRC="04312120.png" border=0 width="18" height="18" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="77" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 30 WIDTH="71"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="30" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="71" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=94 BGCOLOR="#FF3300" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0403c5e1dvmwlb.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Ottawa High School Class of '57</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <B>Class News</B>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory">Directory</A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Announcements">Announcements</A>   |   <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reunions">Reunions</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Class News</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="george_kramer"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B>George Kramer</B></FONT></div> <div> Class of '56</div> <bR> <div> <B>City Band maintains summer tradition of free concerts</B></div> <div> By ANDY GASSAWAY </div> <div> <I><B>Herald Staff Writer</B></I></div> <div> For Cathy Sutton, summer finally has arrived in Ottawa.</div> <bR> <div> But it isn¹t the sunshine or the spontaneous front-yard sprinkler parties that brought her to that conclusion.  Rather, it¹s that she now can bring her trombone to City Park to join fellow Ottawa musicians for weekly City Band performances. “It is my way of releasing the stress and anxiety I feel,” Sutton said. “I can sit and play and forget about everything that¹s going on.” </div> <bR> <div> Through August, the City Band is once again putting on free outdoor concerts at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday in the park.  Chris Reynolds, Ottawa High School band director, is directing the city band this summer for the third time.  “It gives adults in the community the opportunity to pull their horns out of the closet, to play again, and to keep their love of music going,” Reynolds said.  He said as in years past, the band¹s performances consist of marches, standard band pieces, and the occasional miscellaneous piece the audience “is going to like.”</div> <bR> <div> While the musicians' summer schedules can sometimes cause participation to vary, Reynolds said, the band usually manages to stay cohesive throughout the season. “It¹s kind of difficult,” he said. “Some people take vacations and we¹ll be short in a section, but it¹s generally pretty good instrumentation. Last summer, we were short in the trumpet section sometimes. This year, we have enough trumpets, but we¹re short clarinets sometimes. It depends week to week.”</div> <bR> <div> But while the band now makes its way week-by-week, veterans of the Ottawa City Band said the ensemble itself is something that has taken itself through the years generation-by-generation.  Walt Butler, 88, Ottawa, played first-chair trombone in the band 50 years, playing his final concert with the band in 1998. The previous year, Butler retired as owner of a musical instrument dealership in Ottawa.  “I love music,” Butler said. “We did it just because we liked to play. I had a lot of fun, and met a lot of people.”</div> <bR> <div> A 1996 essay by former City Band director Brent Wheeler retrieved from the Franklin County Historical Society records center reports Ottawa¹s earliest known band formed in 1865. The Ottawa Silver Coronet Band, directed by S.E. Lemon, had 17 members.  In 1900, under the new direction of the Spanish-American War¹s 20th Kansas Regiment Band director Charles E. Gormly, the Silver Coronet Band changed its name to the Gormly Band. In 1910, the band went into debt to build the gazebo in City Park, in which the band still performs today.  A band exclusively for African-American Ottawa residents formed in 1913, shortly after direction of the Gormly Band changed hands. From then on, the ensemble, soon known simply as the Ottawa City Band, continued to change hands, staying active through 6 wars until the present day.</div> <bR> <div> Today, Reynolds said he is hoping to perpetuate Ottawa¹s musical tradition by consistently appealing to its residents.  “We just want to encourage more of the community to come out,” he said. “The crowds are getting bigger and bigger each week. Bring your friends, bring your lawn chair.”</div> <bR> <div> Andy Gassaway can be reached at "mailto:agassaway@ottawaherald.com" <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>agassaway@ottawaherald.com</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Ottawa Herald Photo and Article contributed by Jim Corcoran, OHS Class of '57</B></I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>