From Our DirectorChuck Ebersole, Musical Director

To say that I am excited for the spring andsummer performances of the Ringgold Bandwould be a definite understatement! We’vegot a wonderful variety of music plannedand soloists that will please every memberof the audience.

On April 25, three days prior to the SpringAnniversary Concert, the band travels toWoodcliff Lake, NJ to participate in theprestigious Association of Concert BandsConvention. For this performance, wewelcome back Jim Seidel to conduct severalnumbers, including Robert Russell Bennett’sbeautiful Rose Variations for Trumpet andBand. Soloist for this number will be ourfriend, Dr. William Stowman from MessiahCollege, who performed the same numberfor the 165th Anniversary Concert in 2017.In addition to the Rose Variations, we willbe performing Johann Strauss II’s light-hearted and melodic Die FledermausOverture. Premiered in 1851, DieFledermaus has become one of the world’sfavorite comic operas. Next are two shorterpieces: the charming Seal Lullaby byAmerican composer, Eric Whitacre; andDmitri Shostakovich’s frantic Galop fromhis opera, Moscow, Cheryomushki. After thetrumpet solo, we honor the 100thanniversary of the birth of LeonardBernstein by performing his Three DanceEpisodes from On the Town. This piece isfull of rhythmic vitality and jazz stylings andfeatures several members of the band in finesolos. We’ll conclude with Goldman’sChimes of Liberty March. The concert isopen to the public and will be held in theGrand Ball Room of the Hilton WoodcliffLake at 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. …yes, it will be a late night for us!

Sunday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. is the 168thAnniversary Concert at the Scottish Rite inWest Reading. After the traditional opening

number byMonroeAlthouse (hisPathfinderMarch thisyear), we willpresent the sameprogram as wasperformed at theconvention witha few notableexceptions. Weare proud tointroduce Bryn Werley of Conrad WeiserHigh School as the Ringgold Band YoungArtist Award Winner of 2019. Bryn will beperforming the virtuosic Swiss Shepherd andwill be joined by her teacher, DonnasueThompson, in the duet, Deux Pappilons(Two Butterflies). Alex Booth and TylerRutt will, of course, be bringing solos aswell. Alex’s number will be Jerome Kern’sAll the Things You Are, and Tyler will besinging Bring Him Home from LesMiserables before joining together to presentTom Shades arrangement of How GreatThou Art. Dr. Stowman will not be joiningus for the Anniversary Concert, but insteadwe are thrilled to announce that MatthewVaughn, Co-principal Trombone for thePhiladelphia Orchestra, will be our guestsoloist. The piece Mr. Vaughn has chosenredefines the word “virtuosic”, as hepresents William Goldstein’s Colloquy forTrombone and Band. A true 20th centurytour-de-force, the Colloquy combinesvirtuosic bursts of energy with engaginglyrical passages and is a challenge for boththe soloist and band. We’re looking forwardto it! His encore will be Hoagy Carmichael’sStardust. Of course, we will have theprogram seasoned throughout with some ofyour favorite marches and conclude withJohn Philip Sousa’s Stars and StripesForever!

Please join us! Tickets are $15 and areavailable from any member, at the door, oron the website.

www.ringgoldband.com

The Ringgold Band of Reading, PA

Ringgold Band NewsSpring, 2019

ContentsPage 2● President’s Corner

Page 3● Guest Soloist● Member Profile

Page 4● RBYAA Winners

Page 5● Preservation of the Archives

Page 6● Creating an Exhibit at theReading Firefighters Museum

Page 8● The Ringgold Band Salutes theHampden and Reading Firemen

Page 11● Behind the Locked Door: TheInner Workings of the RinggoldLibrary

Page 13● Heard Around the Band Hall

Page 14● Helping the Ringgold Bandthrough the Internet

Chuck Ebersole

Ringgold Band167th AnniversarySpring Concert

Sunday, April 28, 20193:00 p.m.

Scottish Rite CathedralWest Reading, PA

$15 per person

Tickets will be available fromband members, by mail usingthe ticket order form on page8, or at the box office on theday of the concert.

President’s Corner: Doug Werner, Ringgold Band President

It strikes me as I write my first President’s Corner that those of you thatfollow the Ringgold Band and read this newsletter, might be thinking “wait,

this doesn’t sound, and that picture most definitely doesn’t look, like CindyMiller-Aungst.” That’s because after serving as president of the band for 15years, Cindy has decided to take a well-deserved break. Thankfully, Cindy’snot going anywhere and remains a vital and active member of ourorganization, continuing to serve as the band’s Education Liaison, playing abig part of all our education programs and spearheading our Ringgold Band Young Artist Awardcommittee. Cindy continues to do so much for this band that I couldn’t really begin to capture it in thesefew words. I’ve heard it said that dedication is the hours we put in when nobody’s watching. With thatbeing said, the hours Cindy has put in for the benefit of this band are likely uncountable. On behalf of allthe members and followers of the Ringgold Band. I want to thank Cindy for her past, ongoing, and futurededication and commitment to this organization.

I, Doug Werner, have been a member of the trumpet section for 10 years and have served on the boardfor 6 years. I enter this new position with equal parts excitement, and trepidation. I am on a steeplearning curve as I still learn of so many “behind the scenes” things that take place and serve to makethis band one of the premier community musical organizations in our area and beyond.

When I joined this band, I was already aware of the fine musical quality and history of the Ringgold Bandhaving been a student of former director Walter Gier. Unknown to me was that our rehearsal hall alsoserves as a musical history center of sorts. It is filled with hundreds of historical objects, photographs,irreplaceable items that are carefully cared for and organized by our historians. People that visit the hallfor the first time are most often awestruck by our rehearsal hall. It is part rehearsal hall, part museum,and wholly a source of pride for the members of the band.

What I was not aware of and have learned in the past 10 years is how much more the band is and doesbeyond sharing our music with our audiences. We continue to promote music education to manystudents throughout Berks County through our Banding Together Middle School programs, our Side-By-Side High School program, our reading session for students chosen to participate in District 10 Band,and of course our RBYAA scholarship initiative. What appeals to me most about those programs, is thatalthough the band is made up of members from various walks of life, the common thread that runsthroughout is not only our love of making music, but the fact that we all at one time were young,impressionable, inspired music students. It is a good feeling to work with all these students. What we dois not only rewarding, it works and is important……we are doing great things!

Know that as I embark on this new position, I will endeavor to uphold the rich tradition of the RinggoldBand, the dedication that Cindy Miller-Aungst exemplified in the previous 15 years, and the commitmentof all the fine members of this organization.

Musically,

Doug Werner

Photo by Ed Treat

Page 2 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Photo by B Coughlin

Doug Werner

Matthew Vaughn has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 1999, and has been Co-PrincipalTrombone since 2014. Previous positions have included Principal Trombone of the San Antonio Symphony andservice in the United States Air Force Concert Band in Washington, D.C. Mr. Vaughn has been offered principaltrombone positions with the Dallas Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Atlanta Symphony, and has alsoperformed with the National Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Israeli Philharmonic, Gerard Schwarz’s “All-Star

Orchestra” and the “Super-World” Orchestra in Tokyo, Japan.He is active as a soloist, having performed much of thestandard trombone concerto repertoire with orchestras andbands around the country. He has given frequent solo recitalsand master classes in the Philadelphia area and worldwide.

Born in Dallas and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Mr. Vaughnearned a Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction and aPerformer’s Certificate from Indiana University in 1992,continuing with graduate work in education and conducting atIndiana University and George Mason University. He was alsohonored to be a Chancellor Scholar at Indiana University,singularly representing the School of Music. His variedmusical background has included being the winner of the

Eastern Trombone Workshop solo competition and being a member of the Disneyland All-American College JazzBand, in addition to performance on stage with many of the world’s most famous conductors and soloists. Anaccomplished music educator, Mr. Vaughn teaches trombone and coaches brass chamber music at the CurtisInstitute of Music and Temple University, and was the founder and Artistic Director of Bar Harbor Brass Week, anintense summer festival for high school and college brass players from 2000 through 2016. Mr. Vaughn creditsmost of his success to his former teachers, including David Brumfield in Richmond, M. Dee Stewart at IndianaUniversity, former trombonist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the late Dr. Milton Stevens, former principaltrombone of the National Symphony Orchestra.

Meet Guest Soloist, Matt Vaughn,Co-principal trombonist with the Philadelphia Orchestra

Matthew Vaughn

Page 3 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Member Profile - Amy Kreider

Hi Ringgold Fans! My name is Amy Kreider and I am one of the newest members of the Ringgold Band. While I may officially be amember now, I’m not that new to the organization – in fact I’ve played with the band since 2006 as the first recipient of the Ringgold

Band Young Artist Award.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since then! After graduating High School, I attend MansfieldUniversity of Pennsylvania where I studied Music Business and Marketing. During my time atMansfield I continued to study flute and sat principal flutist of the MU Symphonic Bands, MUWind Ensemble, and the PA Intercollegiate Band and played piccolo for the MU Symphonic Or-chestra. The musical highlight of my college years was taking a master class from Sir James Gal-way!

After college I began working for music stores in the region and found a love for digital marketingwhich has led me to my current position as Retail Digital Marketing Manager at Boscov’s Depart-ment Stores.

While I am not working in the music industry I am still very much involved in music. Besides per-forming with the Ringgold Band, I am also a board member of the Reading Symphony Orchestraand serve as the Marketing Committee Chair which provides me the perfect balance of music andmarketing in my life.

I currently reside in Wernersville with my husband, Shawn, 3-year-old son, Aiden, and our pets Luke, the dog, and Cooper, the cat. In ourfree time we love going to the Fightin Phils baseball games, biking, and spending time with our family and friends.

Aiden, Amy and Shawn Kreider

Bryn Werley is a senior atConrad Weiser High School,where she plays flute and piccoloin the concert band and pitorchestra. This fall, she alsoserved as the drum major of theMarching Scouts. Bryn hasstudied flute with DonnasueThompson for the past six years.During her high school career,Bryn has performed with theDistrict 10 Band and Orchestra,the Region V Band, the Northeast

Region Orchestra, and the All-State Concert Band. She isalso the Principal Flutist of the Reading Symphony YouthOrchestra. In 2017, she performed at Carnegie Hall with aninternational honors band comprised of student musiciansfrom around the world. Bryn has also been accepted toperform in the 2019 PMEA/NAfME All-Eastern HonorsEnsemble Festival. Earlier this year, she traveled toPasadena, California to serve as a drum major of anensemble marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade.When she is not performing, Bryn serves as the Captain ofher school’s Berks Academic Challenge Team and is thePresident of the Conrad Weiser chapters of the FFA andNational Honor Society. After graduating from ConradWeiser, she plans to attend a four-year university to studychemistry and music. She ultimately plans to pursue a careerin research.

Joel Evans is the son of John and Cyndi Evans and is asenior at Muhlenberg. Joel takes percussion lessons fromFrank Kumor and Paul Gallello. He has participated in Band,Chorus, and Orchestra at the County, District, and RegionLevels. He participated in State Orchestra and has beenaccepted to NAfME’s 2019 All-Eastern Orchestra. He’s beena member of the District 10 Jazz Band and the Berks All-StarJazz Band. He has been the recipient of the First PlacePercussion Scholarship from the Reading MusicalFoundation for multiple years. This spring, he will beplaying the lead role of Gomezin Muhlenberg’s SpringMusical, The Addams Family.Joel also plays drums in hischurch’s worship team andenjoys playing throughout thecommunity with his jazzquartet, Trading Four. Otherthan music, Joel enjoys playingtennis and video games. Joelwill be pursuing a career inMusic Education.

Sashank Sridhar is a Senior at Wilson High School. He hasbeen learning classical piano for 11 years, and classical/jazz

on saxophone for 8 years. He currently studies piano withMarty Mellinger. Sashank was selected to be the lead tenorplayer on the PMEA All State Jazz Band in April 2018 andlead tenor saxophone on the NAFME All Eastern JazzEnsemble, performing in April 2019. This year he was alsoselected as the first chair for tenor sax in the District 10 bandand Region V band. He also participates in his school andCounty concert band and jazz band as an alto/tenorsaxophonist and has won several soloists awards in his highschool career. Sashank has also been a member of theDistrict Jazz band for the past three years. He has wonReading Musical Foundation’s merit awards for the past 10years in both piano andsaxophone performance.Furthermore, he learns andperforms vocal IndianClassical music concerts. Hereceived the Indian Ragafellowship for the year 2015and recorded multipleproductions for Indian Ragain Chicago as part of thefellowship. This summerSashank and three other highschool musicians got togetherto create a Jazz combo group,Trading Four. Recently his group was featured on WFMZand performed in an event for RMF to raise funds for musicscholarships in the county. Sashank plans to perform a fewprograms with his group in the interest of raising funds tohelp youngsters in the community interested in developingtheir musical skills. Outside of music, Sashank is a part ofhis school's varsity tennis team as well as the captain of theacademic challenge club. He was named a National MeritSemifinalist this year. He is grateful to the Ringgold Bandfor encouraging him in his musical endeavors by offeringthis scholarship and for offering him the honor of performingwith the band in their concert.

Evan Nygard, a senior at Kutztown Area High School, hasstudied the trombone for nearly ten years. He is trombonesection leader of the PhiladelphiaYouth Orchestra, a member of theBravo Brass ensemble based inPhiladelphia, and has participatedin music festivals at the district,region, and state level for the pastthree years. He is very fortunate tostudy under the tutelage of twofantastic teachers, Dr. John Metcalfand Mr. Matt Vaughn. When he isnot playing trombone, Evan enjoysspending time with family andfriends, volunteering at his church,participating in youth group, andindulging his interest in composing.

Page 4 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Ringgold Band Young Artist Award Winners

Joel Evans

Evan Nygard

Sashank Sridhar

Bryn Werley

Preservation of the Archives: Who are we and what do we do?Patricia Kline, Ringgold Band Historian

The Ringgold Band celebrates its 167th anniversary year this Spring. Still going strong since 1852, the Ringgold Band is one of theoldest continuing community bands in the United States. This past year the Ringgold Band hall underwent extensive renovations and

the archives lost their separate space. After renovations, the Executive Board has been diligently moving and re-hanging our historicphotographs and memorabilia back on the wall, and condensing concert programs, newspaper articles, and loose photographs back into anorganized filing system. Any concert programs, correspondence, photographs, and music done during the renovation needs to be added tothe archives and catalogued.

So what do historians do and why exactly is an archive important?

Historians research, analyze, interpret, and present the past by studying a variety of historical documents and sources. The RinggoldArchives are important because they provide evidence of the band’s history, musical performances, soloists, and individualbiographies.

Historians typically do the following:�� Gather historical data from various sources, including archives, books, and artifacts�� Analyze and interpret historical information to determine its authenticity and significance�� Trace historical developments in a particular field�� Engage with the public through educational programs and presentations�� Archive or preserve materials and artifacts in museums, visitor centers, and historic sites�� Provide advice or guidance on historical topics and preservation issues�� Write reports, articles, and books on findings and theories

The primary focus as Ringgold Band historians is to reorganize the archives and educate the public while doing research for specificprojects. An example of that is our 2019 promotional video about the band on YouTube. To see this educational introduction about theband, click this link: Ringgold 2019 Promotional Video

Currently, our most immediate project is to collaborate with the Reading Firefighters Museum in Downtown Reading to create apermanent exhibit within their museum. The Ringgold Band used to accompany the fire companies to official ceremonies and parades.Members of the Ringgold Band composed marches in honor of these companies. Two articles in this newsletter expand on thiscollaboration.

A second project is to share performances and history through social media. If you like to learn and hear the band more often, please visitus, like, follow, and subscribe on the following platforms: (click to follow the link)

Facebook YouTube Twitter Instagram

The band benefits and appreciates our history and reputation being shared with a broader, more global audience!

Finally, we are working on our largest project: Creating a comprehensive personnel database of musicians, soloists, and conductors. Westarted creating this database by delving through concert programs, photographs, and membership directories. Due to a fire, severaldecades of information are missing from the late 1880 into the 1920’s. We are trying to recover some of that information through surveysand research.

The number one question Ringgold Band historians are asked is to find out more information about a long-lost relative who supposedlyplayed in the band. Often no answer can be found since this portion of our archive hasn’t been fully organized. We are hopingour readership can help us. If you, or someone you know played with the band please click the link below and fill out the brief survey.Only fill in the parts you know.

Personnel Database Survey for Ringgold Band: https://goo.gl/forms/VnP96RsQzTvorXMx1

Also any photographs or memorabilia can be emailed to ringgoldbandinc@gmail.com, or mailed to:

Ringgold Band , CC: Patricia Kline3539-A Freemont StreetLaureldale, PA 19605

To ask for research about the band, please contact us through our website at http://www.ringgoldband.com/

(Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com)

Page 5 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

At the end of 2018, John Trimble, the curator ofthe Reading Firefighters Museum, contacted

the Ringgold Band about creating an exhibit at themuseum. This exhibit would showcase theRinggold Band and its relationship to the firecompanies in Reading. Up until this moment, I haveseen a few photos with firefighters on the walls andhave played the historic Hampden Fireman March,but never really thought about a deeper connection.

In a subsequent article in this newsletter, we willlearn more about this rather strong connection in abrief overview of the marches. This articleintroduces us to the fire community in Reading andwhy such a collaboration would help preserve ourjoint history. After research, the Ringgold Band hasdiscovered 8 photographs of the Ringgold Band and

various fire companies including the Schuylkill, Liberty, Hampden, Rainbow and Friendship Companies. We alsodiscovered five concert programs ranging from 1949-1961, and one letter from the Reading Hose Fire companydated June 29, 1918. In the letter, it thanks the Ringgold Band for their participation in a parade. Finally, weuncovered that eight marches were written by Ringgold Band members for the fire companies.

The first documented affiliation between the Ringgold Band and fire companies can be found in the RinggoldBand board minutes of 1853 when a huge debate occurred over how much to charge a fire company foraccompanying the group in a parade and to ceremonial functions. It was decided in a board meeting on April 21,1853 that “to escort the fire Company the band would charge a fee of $75, but if only a parade $60.” Thefollowing month on May 18, 1853 the minutes indicated that “the Committee on Music Is instructed to ask theFriendship Fire Company for a minimum of $50 for one day and $80 for 2 days, more if possible, but no less thanthose amounts”.

Reading had fourteen fire companies. According to Rod Devlin in a Reading Eagle article from 2017, in 1923Reading had the largest volunteer department in the United States. In order of seniority, the dates these firecompanies were founded were as follows: Rainbow (1773), Junior (1813), Reading (1819), Neversink (1829),Friendship (1848), Liberty (1854), Washington (1855), Keystone (1855), Hampden (1867), Marion (1881),

Riverside(1890), Schuylkill (1892), Union (1898),and Oakbrook (1902). With 1,100 active and 300honorary members in 1923, Friendship wasconsidered one of the strongest in the state at thattime.

In 1923, Reading celebrated its 150th anniversary byhosting the State Firemen’s Association Convention.Records show the Ringgold Band was hired toperform at a firefighter’s banquet on October 2, 1923at Maennerchor Hall as part of the State Fireman’sAssociation Convention.

According to the article “Reading’s Volunteer FireDepartment” written by the Federal Writer’s Projectduring the Great Depression, the Rainbow Steam

Creating an Exhibit at the Reading Firefighters Museum

Page 6 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Patricia Kline, Ringgold Band Historian

Ringgold Band with Friendship Fire Company, 1914

Reading Hose Company

Page 7 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Fire Engine Company No.1 was officially organized on March 17, 1773 in the Bull’s Head Inn, the largesttavern in Reading Towne. Supposedly during a heated debate at Bull’s Head ad large rainbow appeared outsideand the shamrock was adopted as its official insignia. Bud Wendler, a member of both the Rainbow FireCompany and the Ringgold Band penned the “Rainbow Firemen March”. This march is in manuscript form inthe Ringgold archives and was never published.

The Neversink Fire Company was founded in 1829 and boastedsome of Reading’s most prominent citizens of the time includingCivil War General William H. Keim. Lester Yeager wrote the“Neversink March” to honor this company.

The final fire company we will briefly learn about today is theLiberty Fire company. Founded in 1854, this company is nowthe site of the Reading Area Firefighter’s Museum at 501 SouthFifth Street in downtown Reading. Like many other companies aRinggold Band member composed “March Liberty” to honor thecompany.

The current museum has several exhibits for visitors to view. Tolearn more about our Reading fire fighters, please visit theirwebsite at http://www.readingareafirefightersmuseum.com.

Sources for this article include: Ringgold Band Archives, BerksArea Firefighters Museum, Berks History Center Website and the2017 Reading Times article “Reading Fire Department holds its150th birthday bash in 1923”by Ron Devlin.

Creating an Exhibit at the Reading Firefighters Museum (con’d)

Liberty Fire Company No. 5

Berks Area Firefighteers Museum

Liberty Fire Company - Steamer

Page 8 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

The Ringgold Band has been affiliated with Reading fire companies since its early years. The band was formedin 1852 and its relationships with fire companies began in 1853 when the band was engaged by the Friendship

Fire Company to play in a parade. A history of the parades and other celebrations will be told in a future article.This article will recount how the band saluted fire companies with concerts and marches – a tradition thatcontinues today.

Numerous marches were written by several different composers to honor individual fire companies. All of thesemarches were written by members of the Ringgold Band. Some of the composers were also members of the firecompany that they chose to honor.

The most well-known of the Reading fire fighters’ marches is the Hampden Firemen which was written by GeorgeRobert Rehrer and published in 1926 by Eugene Weidner, who was the conductor of the band at that time. Themarch became so popular that Rehrer was able to retire from the cigar-making business and set up a music studioin his home at 523 S. 15th St. His good fortunes were short-lived since he passed away in 1935. He had composeda number of marches; but, ironically, most of them were lost in a fire.

The band started playing the march in concert in 1925; and we continue to play it today – especially at outdoorconcerts. We do not know how the march was presented when Mr. Weidner was the conductor; but several currentmembers of the band remember how it was performed during the 1940s and 1950s when Fred Cardin was theconductor. Since that time (and at least for the past 70 years) the march is always accompanied by the use of a firebell, a siren, and a police whistle. Flashing lights on the chimes and smoke bombs were added for “special effects”during this time frame; we also outfitted our percussion section with Texaco firemen’s helmets for a period of time.The march will usually be played at the end of a set to allow time for the smoke to clear.

“Hampden Firemen” starts with the chimes sounding a 3 digit number. This is done to recall the early days (beforetelephones and pagers) when fire locations were identified by fire “call box” numbers. Fire call boxes were locatedon street corners in the city; each one had a different number. The fire bell would signal the location of the fire bysounding the number.

During the 1950s, we also featured our bass drummer, Buster Haller, who wouldalternately beat the bass drum and hit the cymbal as fast as the band played themarch, including the second time through at a faster tempo. He would usuallytake off his coat and roll up his sleeves before his performance. The use of thePennsylvania Dutch / German sayings, before the trio of the march is repeated ata faster tempo, was also done in the 1950s with Fred Cardin. We suppose that Mr.Cardin learned the words from the members of the band. Many of them wouldhave spoken the language at that time. Loosely translated it means “That was alittle fire; now comes the big fire. Look out!” Members of the audience wouldlook forward to hearing and seeing the band play “Hampden Firemen.” They stilldo today, almost 100 years after the march was written by Mr. Rehrer.

A notable performance of the “Hampden Firemen” occurred in the summer of2012 when 3 members of Ringgold traveled to Gettysburg to participate in theWindjammers summer meet. The march was played at two public concertscomplete with bell, siren, and our own Greg Bitler outfitted as a fireman. An

account of this performance can be found in our Fall 2012 newsletter.

In addition to the Hampden Firemen, we have been able to identify 7 additionalmarches by several composers that were written to honor local fire companies. Monroe Althouse, leader of theRinggold Band from 1901 -1923, wrote two. Among the 80 plus marches written by Althouse were “Friendship”

The Ringgold Band Salutes the Hampden and Reading FiremenWendy Holt Schmehl, Ringgold Band Ass’t. Historian

Buster Haller: Ringgold bass drummer who wasfeatured in the trio of Hampden Firemen. Pic-

ture taken sometime during the 1950's.

published in 1916, and “Keystone Volunteer.” Both ofthese marches were written prior to “Hampden Firemen.”Many of Althouse’s marches were published for piano inaddition to the score for band. Sheet music was readilyavailable from the five and ten cent stores on Penn Street.In the early 1900s, many people (some lacking in musicalability) had a piano in their home for entertainment. Mygrandfather was a fairly good piano player in his time; mymother recalled (during the 1920s) that he would go toneighbors’ houses with an armload of sheet music and playtheir pianos for them. Marches were always part of hisrepertoire. If you would like to give it a try, there areoriginal copies of Althouse sheet music in the Music Storeon our website.

John Wacha, who served as an assistant conductor of theRinggold Band, also wrote a large number of marches,waltzes and other numbers. He played in numerous musicalorganizations in Reading and taught privately in his homeduring the early 1900s. ”March Liberty” for the LibertyFire Company was published in 1910. He also wrotemarches for the “Schuylkill” and “Reading Hose” firecompanies.

“Rainbow Firemen” was written by Harry “Bud” Wendlerduring the 1940s. In addition to playing baritone horn withRinggold, he was also a life member of the Rainbow FireCompany. The Ringgold Band played at the dedication ofthe new fire house for the Rainbow Fire Company in 1952.It was noted on the program that the Rainbow Fire Company, dating to 1773, was the oldest active fire

company in the United States. Ringgold, having just observed its 100thanniversary, was the oldest active band in Berks County. Wendler’smarch was never published; but there is a manuscript score in theRinggold music library.

The final march in this fire fighter series is “Neversink” by Yeager.Lester Yeager was involved in numerous musical organizations inReading and he played bass clarinet with Ringgold. When the NewSousa Band came to Reading in 1988, Les was honored as the onlysurviving member of the 1932 Ringgold Band, which, as most Sousafolks know, was the last band conducted by John Philip Sousa. Yeager’s“Neversink” was played by the band at a firemen’s memorial concert in1949; so it must have been written some time prior to that date.

In addition to playing individual commemorative marches as part of itsprogramming, Ringgold provided the music for several Firemen’sMemorial Services. These services were held during the 1940s and 1950sin City Park to remember the members of the Reading Volunteer FireDepartment who had “departed this life” during the previous year. Therewere 12 companies listed in the 1949 program. The Ringgold Band,directed by Fred Cardin, played a half hour concert at the beginning of

The Ringgold Band Salutes the Hampden and Reading Firemen (con’d)

Cover of 1949 Memorial Service held June 19th, 1949

Page 9 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

First page of manuscript of Friendship March by Althouse. Full band scoresare available in the Music Store on our website.

the 1949 services. Among the numbers played by the band were all 8 of the marches mentioned in this article –“Friendship,” “Reading Hose Firemen,” “Keystone Volunteer,” “Rainbow,” “Schuylkill Firemen,” “Liberty,”“Hampden Firemen,” and “Neversink.”

To learn more about our Reading fire fighters, please consider a visit to the Reading Area Firefighters Museum at501 S. 5th St. in Reading. Later this year, there will be an exhibit about the Ringgold Band and its long-termrelationship with our local fire companies.

Sources for this article include: Ringgold Band Archives; Musical Remembrances by Cedric Elmer; Musical Berksand Beyond, by Cedric Elmer and Wes Fisher; Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music, by William Rehrig; andBrian Holt.

March Hampden Firemen on YouTube (click to watch/listen)

Public performance of Hampden Firemen. Note flash-ing lights and smokestack on the chimes. Percussionsection is wearing fire helmets. Trumpet player and

bass drummer are blowing whistles. Trumpet player infront of the chimes is not drinking on the job; he is

blowing on a conch shell. Not visible on the photo is anelectronic siren which is activated by a member of the

trumpet section. Also not visible is another band mem-ber who is hand-cranking a fire bell, which came froman old fire truck. All of which makes quite a racket -which is probably why the clarinet player in the front

row is holding her hand over her ear.

The Ringgold Band Salutes the Hampden and Reading Firemen (con’d)

Page 10 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Photo: John Secoges Photo: John Secoges

Page 11 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

It’s on the lower level of the Band Hall; the lockeddoor next to the plaque honoring the Band’s

dedicated long-time Librarian Emeritus; GeneUmbenhouer. The door guards the entry to a roomcontaining the unique Ringgold Band Music Library.In addition to providing security, the door protectspeople from the risks involving the Halon Gas firesuppression system installed in the Library Room. TheHalon Fire Suppression System is a means of protectingRinggold’s priceless collection of band music, some ofwhich dates back nearly 100 years, against the risk offire and water damage that would result if a typicalautomatic fire sprinkler system were in place.

The walls inside the Library Room are lined with hugewooden music storage cabinets, each hand made byGene and each completely filled with band music storednumerically. In fact, the library collection has nowgrown so large, it has exceeded the capacity of thestorage cabinets and new music now must be stacked ontop. Very soon, the cabinet-top space will becompletely full as well.

The Ringgold Band Music Library currently housesRinggold’s 4,772 band selections as well as the MusicEducator’s of Berks County’s library of 247 concertband selections (5,019 total). Whenever a march-sizedselection is “blown-up” onto full sized paper for use ina concert setting, that music is stored in an additionalfile cabinet in the Office. In addition, the attic of theBand Hall stores many filing cabinets filled with“extra” music (duplicate arrangements, un-needed extraparts) which are essentially treated as “reserve” partsshould we need them. Today, these are seldom usedunless we find a key part missing from the regular files.

Gene developed and maintained an extensive cardcatalogue system of all this music. Each selection wascross-referenced by number and alphabetically by titleand again by march-sized title and number. Today, wehave entered the Library Index into a computerized,searchable Excel file. Each selection is entered byCategory, Title, Composer, Arranger, File Number,Size, March Book Number, and Other. Gene alsoconceived and produced three march sized binders ofRinggold’s most played marches, which are stored withthe concert sized folios in the large folder rack on theHall’s lower level.

A unique aspect of the Ringgold Band Music Library isthat every selection is stored in “Ringgold Order”,rather than traditional “Score Order”. Score Order sortsthe individual parts in the order in which they appear ona conductor’s score: essentially highest voices to lowestfollowed by percussion. New music typically arrives inScore Order from the publisher. Ringgold Order sortsparts as they might have appeared in a brass band towhich woodwinds were later added. Thus: Solo Cornetfollowed by brass voices, then Oboe followed bywoodwinds, with percussion last, followed by “extra”un-played parts.

So what do Ringgold Librarians do?

Basically, Ringgold Librarians serve the Band and theDirector by ensuring every musician always has in theirfolder whatever selections the Director wishes torehearse or perform. Sounds simple, right? Let’sfollow an individual part and see what happens…

Say the third mellophonium part of a new selectionarrives at the Director’s residence in a folder of parts allarranged in Score order. The Director drops the newselection off at the Band Hall and requests it be put outfor rehearsal “tonight”. Librarians affix two stamps toeach part, one identifying it as being the property of theRinggold Band, and the other assigning a specificLibrary number. (Unfortunately, Library numbers arenot unique because in the past the same numbers wereused over and over again on March sized selections,again on Octavo sized selections, on Concert sizedselections and again on MEBC selections. Thiscircumstance makes the job of Ringgold MusicLibrarians rather challenging….).

After being “stamped and numbered”, the number anddescriptors are entered into the Library’s Excel databaseand the selection is re-sorted into Ringgold Order.Following sorting, the entire selection is reviewed bythe Librarians to ensure there are enough parts for eachmusician. In this case, the new selection came withinsufficient mellophonium parts, so three moremellophonium parts must be duplicated along with“extra” parts for three or four other instruments. Next,all the parts are distributed into the appropriate musicfolio slots.

Behind the Locked Door: The Inner Workings of the Ringgold LibraryBill Sanders, Ringgold Band Ass’t. Librarian

That evening, the mellophonium player picks up hisfolder from the slot and carefully places the new musicinto his folder in alphabetical order. This is important,not only for the convenience of the player, but also forthe future efforts of the Librarians. (Of course, the poormellophonium player uses the Greek alphabet.) Duringrehearsal, mellophonium parts are exchanged betweenvarious section members and are left randomly placedin various folders in various alphabetical orders. This isdone to provide amusement to the next mellophoniumplayer who looks for this particular part and also toliven up the Librarian’s day when they try to removeselections from the folios. (Of interest, the Librarian’sdays are also livened up following concerts, when partsare carefully returned to folders out of order,backwards, and most fun of all, upside down andbackwards!)

After the Director decides selections have been playedenough, he will request the Librarians remove themfrom the folders. This entails the Librarians goingthrough each folder and extracting the “remove”selections. Often, 10 or so selections are removed at atime. Starting with the Solo Cornet book, then jumpingto the percussion books, the “remove” selections areplaced in alphabetically arranged piles on the sortingtable, in Ringgold Order, last to first. It’s important tostart with the Solo Cornet book because, (at least intheory), all the selections will be in that book.Sometimes percussion books do not contain parts forevery selection, so one cannot just work from bottomup.

After every folder is harvested, the Librarians gothrough each pile and make sure every part is presentand in Ringgold Order. Unfortunately, ourmellophonium part is now missing… either the folderwas not present in the slot when “harvest time” arrived,or the part had been moved to another folder, or theLibrarians just missed it because it was out of order,upside down, or backwards. After a week or so oftrying to retrieve missing parts from missing folders,the harvested selections are placed back in the libraryfor storage. Our missing mellophonium part is now an“orphan” or a “stranger without a home”. “Orphans”usually turn up at the end of the concert season, whenthe folders are completely stripped of all music. Theyare stacked in a mixed pile of fellow orphans, placed innumerical order, returned to their selection’s homefolder and placed in Ringgold Order when time permits.

Typically, the Band likes a separate music folio to becreated for each major upcoming concert. There will bea Dinner Concert Folder, a Banding Together/Side-by-Side Folder, a District Band Folder, a Spring ConcertFolder, and a Summer Concerts Folder. The contents ofeach folder must the tracked and a list provided (weeklyin summer) to the Director. Sometimes, Librariansmust transfer music between folders. Sometimesseveral folders are in use at once. Sometimes selectionsare removed from folders only to be re-inserted the nextweek. Sometimes versions of selections much beexchanged. Regardless of the requests or timing, musicmust flow in and out of the library and in and out ofeach folder as needed if the Ringgold Band is to besuccessful.

The March Books are a true treasure of the Band. Theyopen up to hundreds of marches available to be playedat any time, at the Directors call. Gene did aphenomenal job producing the March Books and it isunlikely they could be readily replaced today.Unfortunately, they are not indestructible. If bentbackwards, the plastic spines can open and the musicfalls out. If they receive rough treatment, the plasticspines can break, the pages can tear, and the covers canbend or tear. The Librarians constantly repair andreplace elements of the March Books and re-spine themas needed.

Following the final rehearsal before each concert, themusic boxes must be packed. Then, three folks reportto the Band Hall every Monday morning to unpackmusic boxes, distribute folders and march books backinto storage slots, and fulfill the Director’s requests formusic into or out of the folders.

Fortunately, the Ringgold Band was blessed with ourLibrarian Emeritus, Gene Umbenhouer and hisassistants. We also are deeply grateful to his successorCathy Fronheiser, and to all those assistants who helpout. It’s said “an Army marches on its stomach”. TheBand marches on its Library.

Page 12 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Behind the Locked Door: The Inner Workings of the Ringgold Library (con’d)

Page 13 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Heard Around the Band Hall -Tom Shade, Assistant Conductor

After returning from trips to China last November, 2017, and Georgia in May, 2018, our Assistant Director TomShade continued his travels this past Spring/Summer. He and Donna took a weeklong drive to attend Tom’soldest grandson’s graduation from West Forsyth (GA) High School. Logan (also a French horn player) iscurrently attending Valdosta State University. The trip included a stop in Washington, DC over the MemorialDay weekend.

They no sooner got home and did the trip laundry then they were off again to Eastern Europe. From NewarkInternational Airport, they flew to Budapest, Hungary to board their ship for a Danube River cruise. Thisparticular ship had an interesting jazz theme with paintings of American jazz greats and some of the suites namedin their honor.

In addition to Hungary, the trip included stops in Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and ended in Bucharest, Romania. Italso included a trip into the Transylvanian mountains, home of Vlad The Impaler, a.k.a. Dracula.

The itinerary included opportunities to learn about the lifestyle of the various regions, both during and after thecommunist rule. One of the highlights was a lunch in a Croatian family home. During the two-week trip, theywere treated to several folk music performances and Tom might even have found some inspiration for anarrangement or two.

One of the highlights of the trip was an excursion to Ruma, Serbia (formerly part of Yugoslavia), a town about 40miles from Belgrade. This was the town from which Donna’s grandparents emigrated one hundred years ago.Even though it had obviously changed over that time, it was quite an experience getting to see the area whereone’s ancestors lived.

They will now be taking a vacation from their vacations.

The Ringgold Band extends our appreciation to the following organizations for supporting us through grant funding:

Helping the Ringgold Band through the Internet!Did you know you can help financially support the band just by changing your search engine? The Ringgold Band is proud to announcewe are listed on Goodsearch and IGIVE.Goodsearch donates money to your favorite cause when you search the Internet, shop online or dine out at local restaurants! UseGoodsearch to search the Internet and they donate a penny per search to the Ringgold Band. Register your credit cards on Goodswipe,and the Ringgold band will receive up to 5% donation on purchases made at local stores and restaurants around town. Use Goodshopor iGive when you shop online and they donate a percentage of every purchase and offer over 100,000 coupons to help you save moneytoo! Sign up for their Gooddining program and they'll donate a percentage of your restaurant bill when you eat at any one of thousandsof participating restaurants. It's really easy; it's free, and turns simple everyday actions into a way to make the world a better place.Please go to www.goodsearch.com to get started and select the Ringgold Band as your charity of choice! We have always enjoyed thestrong support of our loyal followers, and ask you to consider helping us out in this painless way at no cost to you!Here’s how to help us on your mobile devices:

FOR ANDROID DEVICES 1. Visit www.goodsearch.com on your mobile device & select the menu icon (3 horizontal dots)

2. Bookmark the page by clicking the star & editing the details 3. Go back to the menu icon & access saved bookmarks 4. Select and hold Dailygood bookmark 5. Select “Add to home screen” 6. Select “Ringgold Band Inc” as your charity of choice.

For iPhone, iPads: 1. Visit www.goodsearch.com on your mobile device and hit the share icon at the bottom

2. Select “Add to Home Screen” 3. When displayed the site name, click “Add” 4. Easily search and earn donations by using the icon on your mobile home screen! 5. Select “Ringgold Band Inc” as your charity of choice.

We thank you for your continued patronage and appreciate sharing our musical talents with you!

The Ringgold Band and Social Media: Keeping Up with Technology!

With the new advances in technology there are many new ways to stay connected to the Ringgold Band!We are striving to keep in touch with our audience through many means including Facebook, Twitter, andYou Tube.

We invite you to come watch videos of live performances at our YOU TUBE channel:Link: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC76Z1fr9Zjaq1PhfM80HHdw

You can follow us or Like us on FACEBOOK for the latest Ringgold news updates.Link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ringgold-Band-Inc/190828694295651?ref=br_tf

You can also follow us on: TWITTER- Link: http://twitter.com/RinggoldBandInc

Finally you can always get great information on our website: Ringgold Band(http://www.ringgoldband.com)

Page 12 Ringgold Band News, Spring, 2019

Ringgold Band NewsRinggold Band, Inc.3539-A Freemont St.Laureldale, PA 19605

Ringgold Band News is publishedtwice a year for members andsupporters of the Ringgold Band,Inc.

Send comments and story ideasto admin@ringgoldband.com ormail to:

Ringgold Band News3539-A Freemont St.

Laureldale, PA 19605

Editor/Designer: Skip Miller

Contributors: Chuck Ebersole,Patricia Kline, Amy Kreider,William Sanders, Tom Shade,Wendy Holt Schmehl, DougWerner

The Ringgold Band is a family of musicians who enjoy performing concert band music. We arededicated to continuously advancing the skill of our members while providing high qualityentertainment for audiences throughout the region. We are committed to the education anddevelopment of young musicians in order to preserve our rich history and repertoire of concert bandmusic.

The band is funded by private and corporate donations and The Reading Musical Foundation, ofwhich the Ringgold Band is an affiliate.

The band encourages the cultivation of music among community youth. High school and college-agemusicians are invited to rehearse with the band Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. For more informationabout the band, visit us online at www.ringgoldband.com, or contact admin@ringgoldband.com.

Chuck Ebersole, DirectorThomas Shade, Assistant DirectorJames S. Seidel, Director EmeritusDoug Werner, PresidentLewis Freeman, Vice PresidentCynthia Miller-Aungst, PastPresident/Education LiaisonChrista Lagler, SecretaryTim Simmons, TreasurerMichael Gumpert, Bus. Manager

Cathy Fronheiser, LibrarianWilliam Sanders, Ass’t. LibrarianPatricia Kline, Historian andWebmasterWendy Holt Schmehl, Ass’t.HistorianJill Scheidt, SolicitorGeorge McBlane, TrusteeRandy Ream, TrusteeAl Rochlin, Trustee

Ringgold Band Officers

167th Anniversary

FeaturingMatt Vaughn, Co-principal trombonist with the Philadelphia Orchestra

AndRinggold Band Young Artist Award winner

Bryn Werley, Flute

Sunday, April 28, 2019 3:00 p.m.

Scottish Rite Cathedral310 S. 7th Ave.

West Reading, PA 19611----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TICKET ORDER FORMTickets are $15 per person.

Please send me ____ tickets @ $15.00 each for a total of $______________.

Enclose check payable to “RINGGOLD BAND, INC.”Fill out your name and address below. Mail this form along with a check payable to“RINGGOLD BAND, INC.” using the address label provided (just cut it out and tape itto an envelope). Tickets will be mailed to you promptly.

MAILING LABEL

RINGGOLD BANDSPRING CONCERT TICKETSc/o Tim Simmons200 Ivy LaneDouglassville, PA 19518

PLEASE MAKE CHECK ORMONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO

“RINGGOLD BAND, INC.”

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