Wednesday evenings in Callicoon during July and August are about lawn chairs set up neighbor to neighbor on the corner of Anawanda Lake and Gulf Roads.
Across the street, the firehouse bay door opens onto a summer twilight filled with laughter as kids run through a scene of friendly conversation. Cupcakes and sweet treats purchased from the Ladies Auxiliary are passed and shared. Children (and dogs) lick frosting off noses and cheeks.
At the center of it all is an unassuming wooden bandshell tucked in a grove of pine trees along Callicoon Creek. On most days, folks drive by the open-sided structure without noticing. But not on Wednesday evenings, which is where the Callicoon Center Band has played rain or shine every summer for the past 92 years.
“Most days, it’s a stack of lumber under a green metal roof. But for about an hour and a half on Wednesday nights, the bandshell, lawn and firehouse become an intersection of community life still celebrated in Sullivan County.” – Jim Newton, Conductor of the Callicoon Center Band since 1974
Of Marching & Music
As far as community bands go, most began when fellas who played military instruments came back from war and felt like holding onto a few of the things that made them happy while deployed. Most couldn’t read music, but they could march and keep a beat at field days, parades and picnics.
The Catskills had plenty of them with names like the Jeffersonville Band, Youngsville Band, North Branch Cornet Band, Sand Pot Cornet Band and Mountain Echo Band.
Today, only one remains and Casper Gilbert, a German immigrant, is credited with forming it in Callicoon Center in 1848. At first, he named the band after himself, but it later became known as the George F. Wagner Band and perhaps a few others before Alfred Kastner stepped in as the lead conductor in 1934. Kastner felt the band should properly reflect the place and thus named it the Callicoon Center Band.
From there, things picked up in a darn hurry when a one-room schoolteacher named Clarence Krantz, who lived on the other side of the creek from the future bandshell, joined Kastner as band organizer and money man. He also happened to be a self-taught clarinet player.
Callicoon Center Plays the World’s Fair
In 1939, the band grew both in size and scope when Krantz tapped a prize fighter from New York City named Ray Shaara into the proverbial ring. Shaara both directed the band and played clarinet. He also got the guys a gig at the World’s Fair hosted in Flushing Meadows.
It also happened to be the year Jim Newton, who would later replace Shaara as conductor, was born. Shaara boldly led the band until 1974, a run of 35 years, until a stroke sidelined the fighter and Newton, who’d been playing with the band for two years was asked to finish out the year.
“Fifty-two years later and I’m still finishing out the year,” said Newton, who upon taking over moved the band to a yearly regiment of 10 spring rehearsals followed by 10 weekly Wednesday concerts in July and August.
Each begins with a brief rendition of “American Patrol” before sliding into the “The Star-Spangled Banner.” What follows is a mix of waltzes, polkas, marches and an occasional German song as a nod to Gilbert.
“When you do something for so long, it doesn’t become optional anymore. It becomes a part of you in a way that you simply can’t imagine a life without it. For me, that’s the Callicoon Center Band.” – Gary Siegel, Trumpet, Callicoon Center Band
Sullivan County Slice of Americana
Concerts start at 8:00 p.m. sharp, but lawn chairs and the neighbors who carry them begin arriving a few hours earlier. Here, there’s still something to be said about firehall coffee, conversation and being able to get your pick of the fresh baked goods being sold by the Callicoon Center Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.
“It’s a mix of cupcakes, brownies and other sweet treats each week,” says Judy Van Put, a local fly-fishing expert who’s played clarinet in the band for nearly 30 years. “But the real star – maybe even more-so than the band – is the pies.”
Winning a pie during the intermission raffle is a badge of honor and well-sought-after prize. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and every cent supports the volunteer fire department.
“We put those pies on display right on the sweets table. You can look at them, but you can’t buy them. You’ve got to win one,” giggles Van Put. “Something about the whole scene makes you feel warm. It’s a feeling of community I never want to see end.”
A Catskill Smalltown Story
If you’re lucky, a sticky-fingered toddler will pull your ticket and David Coon, a retired schoolteacher/pastor, and current intermission emcee and chief of raffle, will call your name. Must be present to win.
For Coon, who plays percussion, the Callicoon Center Band is less about the actual music and more about what it does for those who play and enjoy it. Or as he puts it, Newton has a gift for bringing out the best in musicians.
“He has a way of gathering a diverse group of people together through tune and tone to tell a smalltown story of family values. We all play because we love music, but the concerts are compositions about belonging and being a part of something special. That’s what Jim does,” says Coon.
Diverse, in this sense, means there are high schoolers playing along with Van Put, who is in her 70s and joined the band in 1999 when Newton recruited her son Lee to play trumpet. Her other son, Tyler, would later join on sax. Other members include professional musicians like Thurman Barker, Ross Reynolds and Gary Siegle, who has been playing trumpet in the band ever since he was 15 when his band teacher, Jim Newton, invited him to join.
“I played clarinet a long time ago and figured that if I had to drive Lee to band practice, why not stay and play too. When Jim asked me if I could still play, my answer was ‘I guess we’ll find out.’ Almost 30 years later and I’m still playing.” – Judy Van Put, Clarinet, Callicoon Community Band
New Friends & a Cigar Box
At its largest, the band had 45 members. Rehearsals were held in the former Tumble Inn, a place long since closed, but the building still exists across from the bandshell and is found on vintage postcards and antique wooden nickels.
Band member numbers today hover in the mid-20s, but the Wednesday night crowds they draw wouldn’t fit in the old Tumble Inn dance hall. Benches, blankets and lawn chairs cover every blade of grass around the bandshell and spill into the bike lane. More rows form across the street, or as Newton calls it, ‘the social section.’
“There’s an important community aspect to it,” says Newton.
“Some folks show up as early as 6:00 p.m. to get their spot and to catch up on everything that happened throughout the week. Others grab a seat on the grass just before we begin to play. The kids, they never sit down.”
At intermission, when Newton takes a break, Coon entertains with some music history, a joke or two and the famous pie raffle. Somewhere in there a cigar box is passed among the crowd in the same way it has been for 45 years when honorary Callicoon Community Band member Ludwig Graner, first sent it around to raise money for the band.
Many of the dollars placed in the box will come from people who’ve seen generations of concerts, shared them with their children and now grandchildren. Some of them played in the band. Other donations come from those who stumbled upon the scene for the first time or as Newton says, they came out of the hills by following the music.
Waltzes, Polkas & Pines
Or maybe it’s the smell of fresh baked pies. Either way, the Callicoon Center Band will play, rain or shine, for all who take the time to listen and share a smalltown moment.
As twilight fades to sunset the band slides back into the entirety of “American Patrol” to close the show. Chairs are folded up, hugs are exchanged and the lights of the Callicoon Center Bandshell are flicked out. Inside the firehouse the Ladies Auxiliary counts dollars from cupcakes, coffee and pie tickets.
Later, Newton will get around to checking the cigar box, but only after thanking every member of the band and the audience who came to see them play.
Here, the music is in the experience, and everyone plays a role in making it happen. Especially on Wednesday evenings in summer.