Return to the Frank Passic
Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
|
Morning Star, August 14, 2026, pg. 7 I hope our readers have been taking advantage of the free concerts/performances at the Victory Park Band Shell on Sunday evenings at 6 pm. from now through September 13. Swingin' at the Shell has become a very popular summer event and has attracted listeners from all over Southern Michigan. We are fortunate to have a restored Band Shell where very talented musicians perform outdoors. The Shell has gained a reputation among musicians as a "must play" location in their careers. What is the story about the origins of our Band Shell? How did it get built? Our story begins on August 7, 1939, when the Albion City Council petitioned the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for $330,000 to: fund sewer projects throughout town, make improvements to Riverside Cemetery, and construct a Band Shell for Victory Park. Back then, the Albion City Band was a big thing. The 25-piece band and held concerts up to three times a week (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings) and the City of Albion took over funding the group in 1941. That year, the 25-member band was led by Floyd Hoyt (1883-1962), in his first season as conductor (He served from 1941 to 1958). Concerts were held in temporary stands on the lawn of Victory Park southwest of the high school fieldhouse. Construction of the Band Shell occurred in 1941, and was supervised by Albert Schumacher. One well-seasoned carpenter who helped make the forms for the Band Shell was Leon Claucherty (1897-1986). He also helped construct the nearby tennis courts to the east of the Shell. The designer of the two musical sculpture reliefs on the Shell was Samuel Cashwan (1899-1988), a noted architectural artist who served as sculpture supervisor for the Michigan Works Progress Administration art program from 1935 to 1942. Many public monuments were erected bearing his designs during the late 1930s and early 1940s. His www.findagrave memorial number is 90908750. The Band Shell was not completed until October, 1941. The first concert at the new Band Shell was held on the evening of Sunday, October 12, 1941, which was the final concert of the 1941 season. The first number performed at the new facility was "The Star-Spangled Banner," followed by the "Chicago Tribune" march. The performance that evening included a euphonium solo by Stephen Matechik, and a saxophone quartet piece played by its members George A. Bohm, Albert Bohm, Rolland Manchester, and Richard Emery." The event was called a "christening" of the new Band Shell, just two months before Pearl Harbor was bombed. Albion Mayor Norman H. Wiener stated that an elaborate dedication ceremony was planned for the spring of 1942. Unfortunately, no such dedication occurred then. This was because of the intense local focus on Albion's involvement in World War II, as factories were re-tooled for war, men were drafted, and special celebrations were set aside. The band concerts held in 1942 were "normal" ones; no mention was made of any dedication ceremony, even when the WPA Symphony performed in September that year. Eventually, the omission of a dedication was recalled years later and on Sunday, July 29, 2001 the Band Shell received an official dedication from the Albion City Council, the governmental body that had authorized the construction of the Shell in 1939. From our Historical Notebook this week we have a special treat. It is a rare postcard photograph of the Albion City Band performing at the very first concert at the Band Shell on Sunday, October 12, 1941. The text states, "New Band Shell at Victory Park. Oct. 12, 1941." How many of our readers have attended a Swingin at the Shell" event on Sunday evenings? Make plans to attend this coming Sunday, and get a good look at our restored Band Shell in Victory Park.  The Albion City Band performing on Sunday, October 12, 1941
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
| |
