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Committed and dedicated -- Wonder City Band
By sponsoring a band, the city of El Dorado Springs, Mo. has overcome the generation gap.
There are players from 15-year-olds, to those who have been playing 49 years or more. Then there is Lillian Sunderwirth, who has managed the band, organized the music and concert dates and kept the records since 1944. That is 60-plus years of giving up every Friday and Saturday evening and Sunday afternoons, plus many more hours in planning and programming, and enduring all kinds of weather in the park.
Some words come to mind that are not used much anymore -- dedication and commitment.
Around 1884 or 1886, a group of men headed by C. V. Mickey formed a band called the "Wonder City Rube Band" and began what has become a 122-year tradition of band concerts in Spring Park.
The first bandstand was built in 1887. It was a square 2-story structure with elaborate latticework and stood slightly north and east of the present bandstand. The band played in the top floor.
In 1895, the band played four months, three times a week, with two-hour concerts and members were paid $50 a month. All money was by public donation.
The Park Band became goodwill ambassadors for the city by playing when the first train arrived in El Dorado Springs in 1893, a gala event at Grand Central Hotel in 1899, and escorting the first auto through town in 1908. It played at the dedication of the band shell at Fort Scott, Kan., and made its first radio broadcast in Salina, Kan., and continues to play for the El Dorado Springs annual picnic.
Many of the community's men were in World War I, but the band played on! Women first played in the band in 1919. At the end of the war a grand celebration took place in the park. There was a band concert on Main Street, church bells rang, sirens blew, shotguns blasted (until the hardware store ran out of ammunition) and the drum corps from the band marched up and down the street.
The community began to support the band financially in 1929 when the voters approved a 2-mill band tax. The tax has been lowered to 1-1/2 mills and members of the band are paid according to chair position and number of appearances.
Soon after the band turned 50, a new round bandstand was built with rockwork by H.W. Schwalm in 1937. In keeping with tradition, the bandstand's foundation became a community project. People were invited to contribute rocks for it. Among the sandstone base are pieces of broken pottery from China, petrified wood from Bates County, marbles and a large round rock with quartz in it.
The music didn't stop during the 1940s and the Second World War in Europe and Asia.
A long time member and Band promoter, Judge W. W. Sunderwirth, took over as director in 1966 and holds the record as director who served the most years. His last concert was in 1979.
Other directors were: C.V. Mickey, 1887; George Woodruff, 1895; C.V. Mickey, 1896; Professor A.M. Henry, 1897-8; George Woodruff, 1901; Charles Neff, 1902; Professor A.M. Henry, 1903; Charles Neff, 1904-1911; Everett Suggs, 1912; unknown 1913-1917; Dr. D. I. Netherow, 1918-1925; Mr. Gray, 1926-1927; Lendon Enloe, 1928; Emil Crawford, 1929; Lendon Enloe, 1930; Dr. D.I. Netherow, 1931; W.W. Wick, 1932-33; John Davis, 1934- 1943; Mr. Vernon, 1944; Kenneth Allen, 1945-46; Bill Laws, 1947; Joe D. Andrea, 1948-1950; Vernon Wade, 1951-1957; Carl Schecker, 1958-1959; Mr. Hathaway, 1960-1961; Tom Glascock, 1962-1965; W.W. Sunderwirth, 1966-1979.
Gary Hardison is the present director while Ruth Koca, a retired elementary music teacher who has helped with the band for 49 summers is assistant director, and sometimes provides solos. Ruth's son, Mark and his son, play in the band together, also. Steve Banks, who was a music student of Mrs. Koca, plays the trombone and has been playing with the band for 40 plus years, said, he "was privileged to be a part of the band."
Charlene Carter Broughton started playing in the band when she was in grade school and has played for more than 30 years. She said, "This is something I really enjoy." Not only does she enjoy playing, but her daughter and granddaughter, LaDanta Bush and Alicia, play, also, making three generations and they all play clarinet.
Some of the approximately 36 members of the band are second or third generation players, having had other family members play before them. This says a lot about the commitment and dedication of the people of the El Dorado Springs area. The Municipal Band has become more than a tradition; it has become a unique symbol of El Dorado Springs itself. May the Band play on.