The Chemical City Band closed its 115th season with a concert on Wednesday, July 24 at the Nicholson-Guenther Community Band Shell in Midland's Central Park. The evening was perfect, sunny and warm, with a large appreciative audience. Indeed, the weather was cooperative this year - only one concert was moved to Central Auditorium due to rain.
Due to a generous grant from the Midland Area Community Foundation (MACF), a permanent sound system was installed at the band shell and used successfully at each concert. Feedback from selected attendees was very positive. Announcements and soloists could now be heard clearly by the audience, regardless of seating location at the venue. The press release is reproduced below:
The CCB shared a patriotic concert with the Strong Winds MPT of the 338th Army Band on July 3. The 9 member combo converged on Midland from several states as part of their summer performance schedule. The new wireless microphones were used effectively for the vocal soloists.
The drum shells were available for contributions throughout the season. We received over $600 in cash in one evening, a new record for CCB! During the 2024 season, 90 musicians performed at least 1 concert, and 9 rehearsed and played all 7. Instrumentation gaps were filled by talented high school and college students, accounting for 24 of the total. The youngest players were 15 years old. The average participation each week was 46.
The CCB has a 6 member Board of Directors who are also performing members of the band:
Richard S. Harner, president
Susan M. Gessford, vice-president
Gaye Terwillegar, secretary
Richard L. Scott, treasurer
Mara Stewart, publicity director
Stephen E. DeRees, music director
The CCB operates with 3 paid staff positions. Sue Gessford serves as personnel manager, Beth Thomas as librarian, and Steve DeRees as the band conductor. Additionally, Tom Broka was our guest conductor on July 17 and Andrew Reed was the featured alto saxophone soloist on July 24.
In addition to contributions from the general public, the Board would like to acknowledge operating financial support from the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation and the Alden & Vada Dow Family Foundation. The CCB also participated in the Give Local Midland one-day fund raiser in May, sponsored by the MACF. Without this local support, the CCB would not be viable.
Contributions to the CCB endowment fund, administered by the MACF, can be made at any time indicating the Chemical City Band long term investment fund, #545. Any income in excess of expenses is deposited in our MACF fund with the goal of self-sufficiency in the future.
2024 Roster (alphabetical by first name)
