Frank Fiske came in handy in the early days of the Nelson Town Band. That's because he can play several different instruments. Depending on who else showed up for a gig and what instrument they played, Fiske might end up playing trumpet or clarinet or percussion. He can even "drop in on tuba," he says.

Fiske also did the arrangements for the often non-traditional assortment of instruments that the early members played. One of his bigger challenges, he says, was when the band included a trumpet, a saxophone, a tuba and several flutes.

"I was the giving the flutes some of the 'oom-pah' parts," he jokes.

More than ten years later, things have changed. These days, Fiske pretty much knows he'll be playing the glockenspiel when the band performs at an ice cream social in Nelson, a concert in Keene, a parade in Winchester, a nursing home in Westmoreland or any of the many other gigs the band plays in the Monadnock region. And the band now has enough members who play enough instruments that it can use standard band arrangements.

EXACTLY WHAT A TOWN BAND OUGHT TO BE'

Now 23 or so musicians strong, the band includes performers ranging in age from 12 to 74. About half are from Nelson and the rest are from Keene, Richmond and Harrisville. Several, including Fiske, are music teachers while the rest represent professions as varied as computer analyst, physician, writer and architect. A trumpet player and the director, Charlie Lang, is a Nelson Town selectman while the tuba player, Rick Lothrop, is the town fire chief. Some of the band members have played their instrument continuously for many years but most have picked it up again after a 20 or 30 year lull.

All, however, enjoy the camaraderie of making foot-stomping, hand-clapping music together in the small communities in the area and seeing the smiles on the faces of their audiences, whether the face is three years old or 83.

"I get such a rush out of the band," says Gordon Peery of Nelson, who plays bass drum. "It's amazing to see people smiling. The kids really respond and the vets and the old people."

"The Nelson Town Band is exactly what a town band ought to be," says Fiske. "There is a wonderful sense of belonging. And there is something about Nelson that is so acquainted with itself." Though Fiske is from Keene, he says, "There's a part of me that is Nelson because of that band."

"The band plays mostly traditional marching band music," says Lang, "a lot of John Phillip Sousa." But it also plays such pieces as Air and Finale from Handel's "Water Music."

"We call it our pretty music," he says.

The band got the arrangements of its "pretty music" due to one of its long-time members, Emma Reith, who played with the band until her death at age 78.

Barbara Bedding of Keene, who has played piccolo in the band more than 10 years, tells the story:

"Emma was a much-loved English teacher at Keene High School and Keene State College. She learned how to play the trombone in her 70s and was a faithful member of the band. She always wanted us to play Handel's 'Water Music' so, when she died, her husband, Ralph, donated the money to buy the arrangements."

The band also has the perfect setting to play the "Water Music." It has two gigs each summer where it plays on three pontoon boats hooked together, one on Laurel Lake and one on Granite Lake.

"People get in canoes and kayaks and ride along beside us," says Lang. "It's a regular flotilla. It's a relaxed gig and a lot of fun."

Though the band plays a lot of marching band music and at several parades throughout the area, trombonist Bob Kelley of Keene notes: "We don't march and we don't memorize."

It used to march, until about four years ago. Now the band members sit in chairs on a large covered trailer pulled by a pick-up truck.

One of the band's most important members, in fact, doesn't even play. Judy Lang, Charlie's wife, is the official driver and has gotten the trailer through some pretty tight spots, according to Susan Peery of Nelson, Gordon's wife, who plays tenor saxophone.

"One time we were playing at Fort #4," she says, "and we had to get the truck and trailer through an entrance with only a couple of inches to spare on each side. Luckily, Judy drives very smoothly."

Bedding recalls when the band got "uniforms," which consist of a burgundy vest and a blue cap with Nelson Town Band embroidered on them.

"Our original 'uniforms' were dungarees, a white shirt and sneakers," she says.

A BAND BY ACCIDENT

Two Nelson residents formed the original band in 1989 or 1990 – they're not sure which -- and it happened by accident. Louise Dierker had played her clarinet one Sunday at the Nelson Congregational Church and a member, who had started a Cub Scouts troupe in Nelson, asked if she would provide music for the troupe's Memorial Day march to the cemetery. Dierker enlisted her husband, flutist David Patek, but also decided that a drum would be better suited than a clarinet for a parade. She had played the cymbals in high school and "always wanted to play the drums," she says. She found a "big old field snare drum" at Cheshire Music in Keene and started practicing, marching by herself up and down the roads around Nelson.

On Memorial Day, Dierker on drums and Patek on flute led the Cub Scouts from the church up the hill to the cemetery. Along the way, they chatted with a couple of other Nelson residents – Lang and Lothrop – who had both played in their high school bands.

"We said, if we can make fools of ourselves, so can you," Dierker says. And thus was born the Nelson Town Band. The next time they played was for kids marching through the Colony Mill Marketplace in Keene in a Halloween parade. By that time, they had added Bedding on piccolo and Fiske on his multiple instruments.

The band has grown through the years and steadily added performances to its schedule. This year, it will have played at more than 20 events from April 5 at the Maplewood Nursing Home in Westmoreland to October 25 for the Keene Pumpkin Festival. It also plays at the Nelson church on Christmas Eve and at nursing homes during the Christmas holidays. The band rehearses every Sunday from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Nelson church except for the month of January, when it takes a break.

The band is egalitarian, says Patek "There are no auditions and you don't have to be at a certain level to join. We just get together to have a good time and make music. There are a few really good musicians and a lot of the rest of us."

"The band also is non-hierarchical," he adds. "Many town bands in this area are led by a high school music director." The Nelson band has no conductor although Lang currently serves as it director – the one who schedules the gigs and orders the necessary music.

"Having no conductor makes you all really listen to each other," says Susan Peery. "The members are encouraging, not critical. Everybody feels like we're in it together."

PLAYING AGAIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Many of the band's members, like Lang and Susan Peery, had not played an instrument since high school. Lang played trumpet at Thayer High School in Winchester while Peery played bass clarinet at South High School in Cheboygan, Wisc. When she became interested in the Nelson Town Band, she decided to take up the tenor saxophone, which has the same fingering as the bass clarinet.

"I had to practice a lot," says Peery, "but it does come back,"

"There's a joke in the band," says Patek, "that you can't join unless you haven't played an instrument for 20 years. We give waivers to the kids, though."

SUPPORTING YOUNG MUSICIANS

The "kids" Patek refers to are the seven or so teen-age performers, many of them the sons or daughters of band members.

"They haven't had a chance to give their instrument up yet," jokes Gordon Peery.

The Peerys' children, Molly and Spencer, have played in the band. Currently, Keith Johnston and his daughter, Sarah, are members. Other regular young players are Skyler Treat of Keene on trombone; Sara Lillo, also of Keene, on clarinet; Matt Smith of Harrisville on trumpet; Daniel Morse on euphonium; and Gary Morse on drums.

Daniel and Gary's parents, Donna and David Morse of Keene, also play in the band; Donna plays clarinet and Dave, saxophone.

When they first joined about eight years ago, their boys did not play but were among the "pick-up kids," says Donna, the children of band members who rode in the back of the pick-up truck while the band performed.

"One of the reasons we love the band," says Donna, "is that it is very family-friendly. The people are so easy-going about having the kids around. The kids really enjoy the interaction with the adults. And I like the influence of these adults on my kids.

"It's really a blast," she adds, "and the band members have become our best friends."

"The Morses show this is a true family band," says Fiske, "and they bring a high level of musicianship."

The band is dedicated to supporting musical experiences for young people. After covering its expenses with any pay it receives, it puts the rest toward projects such as new band uniforms for the Keene Middle School, the music program at the Nelson school or the grand piano at Keene High School. It has sent several young people to summer music camp.

"For me, as a musician," says Donna Morse, "I like the fact that we keep giving the money away and that our money goes out to all these kids."

NOT THE FIRST NELSON BAND

Though not much is known about it, there was another Nelson Town Band. In fact, Patek remembers hearing it when he visited the area as a boy in the 1940s. It was a brass band directed by Edgar Seaver, the mailman, who, rumor has it, was totally deaf. Patek tells a story he's heard. Apparently, Nelson hired an outside band for one of its Old Home Days celebrations.

"Edgar got steamed up about it," says Patek, "and asked them what they paid the other band. When they said $75, Edgar claimed 'I would have blown my guts out for that!'"

The current band is collecting stories as well. One of its favorites, told by more than one person, took place at the pickle festival parade in Winchester one year.

"We were waiting for Charlie and Judy to come with the trailer," says Susan Peery. "We didn't see either of them and we were about to jump into the back of a pick-up truck. Then Judy came with the trailer, but still no Charlie. About halfway through the parade, Charlie came running down the street with his trumpet and jumped onto the front of the trailer where he usually sits. He had gotten hung up putting in a computer system at Markem, where he worked."

Another story the Peerys enjoy telling is about the Memorial Day parade in Nelson one year. The day before, Lang had painted the trailer bed. Apparently, the paint wasn't quite dry because when the band started up the steep hill to the cemetery, all the chairs started sliding slowly backwards.

Good stories and lots of laughs are as much a part of the Nelson Town Band as the music.

As Fiske puts it: "I love music and I love marching band music. I love feeling the music going on around me and being an essential part of the harmony. I know it is giving pleasure to others. It (playing in the band) makes me feel good right down to the core of my being."

Go Back