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By L. Alexis Young - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - October 21, 2005
Local Band Leaders Create Event
Four community bands gathered at Gardiner Spring Auditorium in Ontario to toot each
other's horns.
It isn't often that these bands get to play for an audience of their peers, which is
why they enjoy participating in the Merry-Go-Round of Bands event created local band-legend
Jack Mercer. On October 15th, the Ontario-Chaffey Community Show Band, Pomona Concert
Band, Citrus Wind Ensemble and Main Street Community Band were invited to participate in the
second annual event and band directors said they hope to be invited back next year.
"When bands are invited to perform at festivals they don't get a chance to sit and enjoy
the other bands that are performing, because they are so busy setting up and tearing down,"
Mercer explained.
"I created this event to give bands a chance to play for each other and we'll applaud for
each other and lie about how great we sound."
Each band took its turn on the stage to play about 40 minutes of music. The bands
were then given a chance to mingle during a barbecue lunch.
"I think this great, because we get to hear some of the other community bands that we
don't normally get a chance to hear," said Bill Blanchard, the associate conductor of the
Ontario-Chaffey band.
"With Jack putting this event on it forces us to spend a day together."
Connie Ye Dong Ni, a 16-year-old exchange student from China, got a chance to play her
clarinet with the Ontario-Chaffey band during the event.
Dong Ni said there are not very many community bands in China, so she was excited about
playing in one during her 10-month stay.
"I liked playing and listening to the bands," Dongni said.
"In China, there are not many bands like this. I think this was a nice event."
Linda Taylor, director of the Pomona Concert Band, also enjoyed spending the day with
fellow musicians.
"This is a great event," said Taylor, who has been part of the band for 38 years.
"This is our first time participating and we felt like it would be a good chance for
the band to share with and hear some of the other local bands."
Pomona Concert Band co-director Jim Lytthans echoed Taylor's comments.
"It's nice to work with other bands and it's so important for community bands to get a
boost like this," Lytthans said.
"It's nice to have a chance to come together."
Paul Kardos, director of the Main Street Community Band at Cal State San Bernardino,
has a long history with Mercer and said he appreciates the chance to play for his peers.
"Playing for your peers is always different than playing for a novice audience that
doesn't know much about music," Kardos explained.
"We have all played the same songs hundreds of times, but it's nice to hear someone
else play them."
Kardos formed a community band in 1979 and Mercerplayed with the band before creating
his own. Kardos said Mercer quickly became the Ed Sullivan of community bands.
"Paul has been a very big influence to me," Mercer said.
"When I first started out with a community band, I didn't know anything about it but
Paul taught me."
The event concluded with the four bands playing together for a grand finale. The
musicians said they are already looking forward to next year's event.
[L. Alexis Young writes City News. E-mail alexis.young@dailybulletin.com,
call (909) 483-9365 or write to 2041 E. Fourth St., Ontario, CA 91764.]
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