As 2007 began, the community band was searching for a conductor as Dr. Fox
began employment that required him to be on call. The task soon was taken by
Carl Becker whose long experience was applied to leading the band.
January 27, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained 21 residents at Willow
Park with a 90 minute concert.
February 10, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained over 2,000 people as
they arrived for the "Really Big Show" for ARC at the Centre in Evansville.
March 24, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band performed for 48 friends of Mary
Fuller to celebrate her 80th birthday at the Newburgh Library.
April 7, 2007 The parade contingent of the band was in the second annual Easter Parade in Newburgh.
April 15, 2007 The Little Old Dam band played at St. John’s Catholic Church School in Newburgh as over 100 people celebrated the 40th
anniversary of service by their priest, Fr. Joseph L. Ziliak.
April 17, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band under the direction of Carl Becker presented a spring concert for an audience of 30 people at the
Ohio Township Library.
April 21, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained 52 residents and volunteers at the Holiday Retirement home in Evansville. The breakfast
was presented to honor the people who volunteer to help the home throughout the year.
May 14 - 19, 2007 This was a busy week for the Old Dam musicians. The concert band presented the May concert for an audience of 20 at the Ohio
Township Library on May 15 under the direction of Carl Becker. Mr. Joseph Choi served as guest conductor.
The Little Old Dam Band played for 250 persons at St. James Church in Haubstadt on May 14.
About 100 people of the Methodist Temple Senior Luncheon Group heard the Little Old Dam Band on May 17.
Five hundred people at the second annual Newburgh Wine Fest were entertained by the Little Old Dam Band on May 19.
May 26, 2007 Dave McGill conducted the Old Dam Community band as it performed for 150 people at the Memorial Day observance at Rose Hill
Cemetery. The concert band also played for 350 at the Strawberry Festival at the Newburgh Presbyterian Church under the direction of Jon
Patton on that day.
On May 27, the Old Dam Band combined with the Owensboro Community Band and the Community Band of Rockport to perform at the Lincoln Park
Amphitheater. Jon Patton and Steve O’Neal shared the baton for that show. Over 100 people enjoyed the concert.
May 29, 2007 Under the direction of Mr. Joseph Choi, The Old Dam Community Band performed at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church in
Evansville. One hundred fifty persons enjoyed the music.
June 2, 2007 Over 100 people were entertained by the Little Old Dam Band at the United Federal Bank Community Day in Newburgh. This has become an
annual event for the band.
June 21, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band played for over 100 residents of Lakeside Manor on this date.
June 22, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band performed at Sunset Park in Evansville for about 100 clients and agents of the REMAX Realty
July 1, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band Performed for the "Neighborhood Picnic" sponsored by Eastminster Presbyterian church.
July 3 and 4, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band
again entertained several hundred people at the Solarbron Retirement home
and at the Lock and Dam building to help celebrate Independence day.
July 7, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band played
for about 80 people on Jennings Street in Newburgh. It was a tribute
to volunteers that prompted free hot dogs and sodas for people who stopped
to enjoy the music.
July 11, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band
entertained 25 residents of the Good Samaritan Home in Evansville.
July 28, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band provided
music for the Hard Hat Tour of Newburgh's former city hall which is being
remodeled to accommodate community activities.. The remodeling work is under
way and 200 citizens took the opportunity to check on the progress. The
photo from the Evansville Courier's Warrick Magazine shows the band
beginning the tour of the building.
August 7, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band
played the summer concert at the Main library of the Evansville Vanderburgh
County Library system. About 35 people enjoyed the music. The secretary of
the band, Tracy McConnell, distributed a survey to 24 members of the
audience. Most of the responders stated that they enjoyed the concert and
felt that it was about the correct length. Most of the responders did not
comment or answer the question about the commentary offered during the
program. Other questions about the favorite types of music elicited
widely varied answers.
August 11, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band
entertained 25 residents of the Newburgh Health Center.
August 25, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band played
for 63 patrons of the Evansville Museum as part of their series of summer
concerts.
August 26, 3007 The Little Old Dam Band
entertained over 550 people at the luncheon held to celebrate the 140th
anniversary of the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Newburgh.
August 27, 2007 Evansville Courier featured a
photo article about Band President Dan Schultz. Following is part of
the article:
"Schultz, a retired mechanical engineer who lives in
Newburgh, has found a niche repairing, refurbishing and
bringing back to life old or damaged brass instruments.
Tangled tubas, trounced trumpets or battered bugles, Schultz
fixes them all. He remolds brass, smooths and buffs out
dents and mends broken values and tubing to make the horns
like new again."The stuff that looks the worst is sometimes
the easiest to fix," Schultz said. "Brass is really
forgiving. You can make it look as good as new with just a
little work."
Schultz rediscovered his love for music 10
years ago. He learned to play the tuba in 1955 and played
while he was in the Navy, which was until 1968, but put his
tuba in its case and sold it after getting out of the
service.Thirty years after he quit playing, Schultz and his
wife, Terri, who were only dating at the time, were
Christmas shopping in the mall when they stopped to listen
to a local group play "Tuba Christmas." Schultz then told
her about his tuba-playing days. "She used to play the
saxophone as a kid, and she asked me 'don't you ever want to
play again?'" She dared him to pick it back up.
"So I went and bought an old beat-up tuba on eBay, and I
started all this (repairing and playing instruments)."
After fixing the tuba, he started playing again. Schultz
said playing was like riding a bike: He never really forgot
how to play but had to "get his chops back." "I am
better now (at playing the tuba) than I ever was," Schultz
said.
Through his engineering work, Schultz was familiar with
what can and can't be done with brass, so repairing
instruments was easy. Five years ago, Schultz went into
semi-retirement and started repairing brass instruments full
time for clients. Although he gets some instruments
that are beyond repair, Schultz finds a use for them. In the
back of his shop is a stockpile of tubas and trumpets he
uses for parts. Schultz plans on tinkering with tubas
and trumpets for the rest of his life. But to Schultz, the
hours he spends in his shop are more fun than work."
September 8, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band
entertained 55 residents and guests at the Rathbone Home in Evansville. This
was the day for the annual Old Car show and picnic at the home.
David Emory did an excellent job of planning
and managing the band's show.
September 18.2007 The Old Dam Community Band
presented a concert for 52 people at the Ohio Township Library.
September 19, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band
entertained 45 ladies at a luncheon at St. Lucas Church in Evansville.
September 27, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band
played for the annual prom at SWIRCA in Evansville. About 200 senior
citizens danced and enjoyed the music.
September 29, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained about 500 people as
they participated in the annual Down Syndrome Buddy Walk at the Vanderburgh
County Fair Grounds.
October 6, 2007 The parade unit of the Old Dam Band participated in the West
Side Nut Club parade .
October 7, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained
members at the Presbyterian Church on Washington Avenue in Evansville..
October 13, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained about 100 members of
the Book family during their reunion near Robard, Kentucky.
October 20, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band supported the Newburgh Senior
Citizen’s center fundraiser with a concert at the Newburgh Buehler’s Food
Store. Over 100 customers and neighbors enjoyed the music and many bought
hamburgers and hot dogs to help the fund raising effort.
October 21, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band played at Vann Park in
Evansville as about 30 friends and relatives of Martha Burggrabe celebrated
her 65th birthday.
October 26, 2007 The parade unit of the Old Dam band played for the
annual Newburgh Halloween Parade. The band led about 75 youngsters though
the parade route.
November 4, 2007 The annual meeting of the Old Dam Community Band
was held at the Old Lock and Dam Building in Newburgh. During the
business meeting, a motion was made to increase the number of elected
Board Members from eight to ten. The motion passed and the by-laws will
be amended accordingly. Incumbent board members, Dan Schultz, Wayne
Fiester, and Frank Book were re-elected to new three-year terms. Roy
Dorris and Virgil Miller were elected to fill the two new seats and will
also serve three-year terms. The Board now consists of Dan Schultz,
Wayne Fiester, Ted Gore, Frank Book, John Powell, Carl Zimmerman, Tracy
McConnell, Gene VanStone, Roy Dorris, and Virgil Miller. The eleventh
Board Member is Carl Becker, who was appointed Music Director at a
regular Board meeting on October 20, 2007, serving ex-officio.
November 25, 2007 On November 23, 2007 William R. Haas, tuba player in
both the concert and Dixieland bands, passed away. The Little Old Dam Band
played a concert
during the visitation at the funeral home as a tribute to Bill.
November 30, 2007 The concert band presented an outdoor holiday concert
on the patio of the Café Newburgh.
December 1, 2007 At one o’clock in the afternoon, the band presented a
street corner caroling concert in Newburgh. The band then moved to
Evansville where they played at Santa Land on West Franklin Street as kids
visited Santa Claus.
December 8, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band entertained the kids and their
parents at Santa Land with Christmas music
December 11, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band presented the annual
Christmas concert at the main library in Evansville. About 100 patrons of
the library enjoyed the holiday music. The concert was recorded by Dan
Schultz on the new digital recorder.
December 15, 2007 The Old Dam Band combined with the community bands of
Owensboro and Rockport to perform at the Old Lincoln Mall in Owensboro. Jon
Patton, Carl Becker and Steve O’Neal shared the conducting duties as they
entertained about 50 people in the audience.
December 18, 2007 The Old Dam Community Band presented a concert of
Christmas music at the Newburgh Central Library for over 100 people. This
concert was dedicated to the memory of Bill Haas who had been a member of
the band until he passed away recently.
December 30, 2007 The Little Old Dam Band performed at the Rathbone
Retirement Home in Evansville. David Emery, the band’s clarinet player,
recently moved to the home with his wife Jean, and arranged for the band to
present its 157h show.
Thirty-two residents of the home enjoyed the music
The Old Dam Community Band organization participated in a total of 46
concerts in 2007. The concert band played 15 times. The parade unit played
three times. The concert band combined with those of Owensboro and Rockport
on two occasions. The Little Old Dam Band played for 26 shows.
Again this year our secretary, Tracy McConnell, has done an outstanding
job of applying for grants to help support the bands. This year’s help was
provided by Culver Mistos Foundation, Inc., Mead Johnson Nutritionals,
Mesker Music Trust, Patricia H. Snider Family Foundation, and Toyota Motor
Manufacturing of Indiana. To these entities and the many individuals who
supported the band we say thank you very much.
