Strike Up the Community Band!
By MAY-BRITT JOYCE
COOPERSTOWN
The Cooperstown Community Band opens its 165th year performing at Cooperstown’s Lakefront Park on Friday, July 3 at 6 p.m., preceding the Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department’s annual community Fourth of July fireworks display.
The CCB ranks as one of the oldest continuing community bands in the country. It originated in 1861 and in 1862, during the Civil War, 13 men left Cooperstown to serve as Doubleday’s Band in the New York 66th Regiment as part of the war effort.
This year, commemorating the nation’s 250th Day of Independence, the band has 40-50 volunteer members ranging from elementary, high school, and college students to a wide range of professionals and retirees—from first-year participants to veterans of several decades up to 50 years.
Originally, community bands were all brass. Cooperstown’s instrumentation is typical of most current concert bands, with woodwinds, brass and percussion, from piccolo to tuba. The group practices weekly at the Cooperstown Fire House.
The CCB participates in the annual Springfield Parade on Saturday, July 4, followed by a concert at the Old School. The season continues through August with area performances in Schuyler Lake, Richfield Springs, Cherry Valley, and Fort Plain, and returning to Cooperstown’s Lakefront Park and Glimmerglass State Park.
Concerts open with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and end with the country’s official march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” featuring the band’s popular piccolo solo. Within the one- to two-hour performance, some 35 current show tunes, marches, and medleys are played, this year to include a song by Bruce Springsteen. “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is a rousing favorite, along with the theme from “New York, New York.”
Michelle Fritts of Springfield Center begins her third season conducting CCB after playing a variety of instruments with the group. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of St. Rose and was high-school band director at Edmeston from 2011-2023. She has participated in the Pasadena Rose Parade and Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and has been seen practicing her instruments on the treadmill at the Clark Sports Center.
With her introduction of the band’s repertoire at each concert, Fritts includes an emphasis on the importance of music education in public schools, that being the source of most all band members’ introduction to band and a lifetime of music.
The Cooperstown Community Band’s schedule is as follows:
- Friday, July 3: 6 p.m., Lakefront Park, Cooperstown. Concert prior to fireworks.
- Saturday, July 4: Old School, Springfield. Concert following the Fourth of July parade.
- Tuesday, July 7: 7 p.m., Food Pantry, Schuyler Lake.
- Wednesday, July 15: 7-8:30 p.m., Spring Park Pavilion, Richfield Springs.
- Tuesday, July 21: 7 p.m., Glimmerglass State Park.
- Friday, July 24: 7 p.m. Hall of Fame Concert, Cooper Park, Main Street Cooperstown.
- Tuesday, July 28: 7 p.m. Alden Field, Cherry Valley.
- Tuesday, August 4: 7 p.m., Food Pantry, Schuyler Lake.
- Tuesday, August 11: 6:30-8 p.m. Lakefront Park, Cooperstown.
- Thursday, August 13: 6:30-8:30 p.m., Haslett Park, Fort Plain.
- Tuesday, August 18: 7 p.m., Glimmerglass State Park.
Updates, rehearsal schedules and more can be found on the CCB Facebook page.
