Author Archives: Dan Bergeson

The Alphorns return: May I Alp You?

On and off over the years, Vintage Band Festival audiences have enjoyed the music of a small group of alphorn players in southern Minnesota. Alphorns have a history rooted in the mountains of Europe, particularly in Switzerland. This year, the alphorns will be returning to Northfield to the delight of all.

On a typical beautiful evening during spring, summer or fall, Ralph and Mary Brindle can be found playing alphorns somewhere … at home, at local parks, in the BWCA, in the mountains, even out in the snow while snowshoeing! Mary & Ralph play for outdoor weddings, Swiss Independence celebrations, and special occasions upon request. Active musicians with a variety of musical groups in the Twin Cities, Ralph and Mary began playing alphorn in 2004 are excited to bring some alphorn serendipity to the Vintage Band Festival!

Watch for the alphorns along Division Street on July 29 with multiple stops during the day between 2^nd Street and 6^th Street in front of coffee houses, restaurants and the public library.

Vintage Band Festival announces Wenger Foundation gift

The Wenger Foundation has been a financial supporter of Vintage Band Festival since the festival’s inception in 2006. Recently, the Foundation ended its 40-year mission of supporting arts organizations in the state of Minnesota. In a letter sent to Vintage Band Festival explaining this development in its philanthropic life cycle, the Wenger Foundation also enclosed a very generous check for $20,000. This was a completely unforeseen gift from our lovely friends in Crystal Bay, Minnesota.

Wendy Wenger Dankey, a member of the Foundation’s board of directors, explained, “It has been a great run as an arts funder and as a family foundation, but all things change over time and we have reached our finale. I really send our good wishes for a sustainable and successful future! We really do hope you have many more years of successful Festivals!”

It can honestly be said that without the many years of support from the Wenger Foundation, Vintage Band Festival would not have continued beyond the first festival in 2006. The support came not only in the consistent funding, but also in the inspiration and encouragement that the Wenger board of directors passed along to the Vintage Band Festival board of directors.

The final Wenger gift will allow Vintage Band Festival the opportunity to envision long-term financial sustainability. Stay tuned for more information about this exciting possibility in the coming days.

Vintage Band Festival on the radio

Recently, two members of the Vintage Band Festival board joined Jeff Johnson on his morning radio show to talk about Vintage Band Festival 2023 this summer on Saturday, July 29.

Dan and Randy talked about the upcoming one-day festival and the band roster for the day. Highlights include the first appearance at VBF of the Minnesota Pipes and Drums, a band that focuses on honoring Scottish musical traditions and the return of the 34th Division Regimental Band “The Red Bull Band.”

Thanks to Jeff Johnson for the opportunity to spread a little VBF love!

Listen to the complete interview at this link: https://kymnradio.net/2023/05/12/dan-bergeson-and-randall-ferguson-on-the-vintage-band-festival/

Vintage Band Festival receives SEMAC grant

Last month Vintage Band Festival received a $10,000 grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council in support of the forthcoming one-day festival in 2023. We are honored to have our application approved and grateful

The intended use of the grant is to build on the efforts made in the summer of 2022 to assist seniors with safe transportation to and from the outdoor venues at Vintage Band Festival and seating during the performances. Several other community partners worked with VBF on this project and the hope is that they will do so again next summer. These partners included the Northfield Retirement Community, Three Links Care Center, Benedictine Living Communities, the City of Northfield, and Age-Friendly Northfield.

Other Rice County recipients of SEMAC grants in the most recent cycle include: Cannon Valley Regional Orchestra, Carleton College, Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, Northfield Troubadors, and Paradise Center for the Arts.

In November 2008, Minnesotans passed the clean water, land, and legacy amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. As a result, over the next twenty-five years, a small portion of the state’s sales tax will be dedicated to: a clean water fund, an outdoor heritage fund, a parks and trails fund, and an arts and cultural heritage fund.

Proceeds from the arts and cultural heritage fund “may be spent only on arts, arts education and arts access and to preserve Minnesota’s history and cultural heritage.”

Tuba Christmas was a resounding success!

Saturday, December 3, was a magical day in Northfield. For the first time in three years Vintage Band Festival was again able to present Tuba Christmas to the Northfield community. 2022 is the 49th anniversary year of Tuba Christmas, an event that is now celebrated in over 300 venues throughout the world.

Nearly 50 musicians were present on the stage in Skinner Memorial Chapel on the campus of Carleton College. The chapel was filled with an appreciative audience and everyone had a smile on their with the joy of being in community again and hearing the sound of low-brass music filling the space.

One registered player was not in his chair, but his tuba was on the stage adorned with a Tuba Christmas headband and a U.S. Navy flag. Nick Borene, a graduate of Northfield High School and now serving in the Navy on the west coast, wanted to attend this year, but couldn’t, so his parents registered him and brought his tuba to the event. We were glad to welcome him in absentia!

Thanks to the members of the VBF board who were on hand to register the musicians, welcome the audience and sell music books and Tuba Christmas apparel. Thanks also to Carleton College for co-hosting and sponsoring the event for the fourth time. See you again in 2023!

Give to the Max Day 2022

Vintage Band Festival is once again participating in Give to the Max Day (GTMD22), Minnesota’s giving holiday. GTMD22 is Thursday, November 17 from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm. In addition to Vintage Band Festival, you can give to as many organizations as you’d like on one platform. Each time you make a donation, you will be entered in a drawing for extra dollars to be awarded to the organization to which you just donated.

Every 15 minutes on November 17, a $500 Golden Ticket will be awarded to a lucky organization. Every hour, a $1,000 Golden Ticket will be given and at the end of GTMD22, a $10,000 Golden Ticket will be the prize.

Our goal for GTMD22 is $3,000. Vintage Band Festival 2023 has a budget of $20,000 and we’re hoping to raise 15% of the budget on November 17.

The period known as Early Giving began on November 1 and continues until 12:00 am on November 17. Each day during Early Giving, there will be a drawing for one organization to receive $500 as a result of one of their donors. In 2021, Vintage Band Festival was the lucky winner of $500 as the result of an Early Giving donation. Help us win another one! All donations received during Early Giving will automatically be entered into the drawings on GTMD22.

Vintage Band Festival and COVID-19

This the first multi-day Vintage Band Festival since 2019 and the first since the COVID-19 pandemic began. While the transmission level in Northfield (Rice County) is rated low by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the COVID-19 Omicron variants are highly transmissible and it’s still wise to be aware of one’s surroundings and use mitigation measures as needed.

The current CDC COVID-19 guidelines are the following:

Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms. Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Wear a mask on public transportation. You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.

Vintage Band Festival encourages musicians and audience members to wear N95 or KN95 masks in indoor settings where maintaining physical distance from others isn’t possible. Please stay home if you have symptoms. We also encourage everyone to get the full vaccination regimen for the vaccines (varies by vaccine manufacturer, either 3 or 4 doses).

It’s time to thank the 2022 Sponsors of the Day

We have a new giving category for Vintage Band Festival 2022: Sponsor of the Day. In 2019 we suggested that the giving level of $250-$499 be dedicated to honoring a music teacher that was a significant mentor for our donors.

This year, we’ve designated that giving level for special recognition during each of the four days of Vintage Band Festival. Thanks to all of our Vintage Band Festival 2022 Day Sponsors!

Thursday July 28 Sponsors of the Day

Premier Bank, David McKee and Lynn Naeckel, Kathleen Vang, David Hoiness, David Otterness

Friday July 29 Sponsors of the Day

Allina Health Northfield, Paul and Maribeth Beck, Norman Grier, Gerry and Carol Gengenbach, College City Beverage

Saturday July 30 Sponsors of the Day

Sarah and Ross Currier, Steve Lawler and Joy Riggs, Hogan Brothers, Arnold and Celena Witt, Rod and Deb Christensen

Sunday July 31 Sponsors of the Day

Dennis and Janet Hahn,, Judy and Paul Tarabek, Judy Broske, Peter Webb and Karen Saxe, Diane Boyum, Stan Mork

Musical History on Display at VBF 2022

Since the beginning of Vintage Band Festival in 2006, the core of the multi-day event has been the appearance of historic reenactor bands from around the country. Vintage Band Festival 2022 will be no different.

Dodworth Saxhorn Band

Today’s Dodworth Saxhorn Band is modeled after the Dodworth Band of New York City, which was the premier brass band in the United States from the 1840s to the 1880s. The original Dodworth Band was directed by brothers Allen and Harvey Dodworth who were among the most highly respected musicians and bandmasters of the 19th Century. In 1985 musical instrument collector Alexander Pollock created the modern DSB as a living history project. The band performs 19th century music including compositions and arrangements from the Smithsonian Institute, the Library of Congress, private collections and university libraries as well as a few new arrangements by musicologists who are experts in 19th Century brass band style and instrumentation.

The DSB is led by Music Director Mark Felder and Artistic Director Lori Gould. Dodworth Saxhorn Band is returning to Vintage Band Festival after a nine year absence!

Independent Silver Band

In 1884 to 1889 the prosperous and energetic Illinois community of Mt.Vernon enjoyed the music of its own Independent Silver Band. In July, 2004, the music of the Independent Silver Band came to life once more. It is composed of 10 local men, all of whom attended the same church and Sunday school. By bringing together interested brass players and percussionists from Mt.Vernon and surrounding cities and towns in southern Illinois, the Independent Silver Band is composed of the proper team of dedicated persons, all of whom shared the vision to give audiences the chance to hear the music of a bygone time. The band leader of Independent Silver Band is William Reynolds.

Kentucky Baroque Trumpets

Don Johnson was inspired to play the baroque trumpet, also known as the natural trumpet, in 2004 after attending the Historic Brass Society Festival. He introduced his friends to the instrument, and they formed a group dedicated to re-creating its sounds and styles, including signal calls, cavalry music, dance music, duets, solo music and trumpet with voice, which requires playing in different styles and tone colors. The band members also play modern instruments, and they dedicate part of their performance to educating the audience about the difference between the two types. The band’s Civil War band incarnation, President Lincoln’s Own, performed live in Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln and was selected to be in the National Geographic movie Killing Lincoln. This is the band’s third appearance at Vintage Band Festival.The band is currently led by Don Johnson Jr.

Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band

The musicians of Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band are dedicated professional and semi-professional brass, reed, and percussion players whose performance is as close to that of a late 19th-century professional touring band as is possible today. Like bands from that era, the group ranges from six players to a full ensemble of 30. It usually tours with 17 reed, brass and percussion players. The band plays only music that would have been heard between the end of the Civil War and the advent of the Sousa Band in 1892, primarily dance music. Concerts feature the most popular examples of polkas, waltzes, quicksteps, schottisches and mazurkas, as well as the march. The band is conducted by Elisa Koehler and managed by Michael O’Connor and is making its sixth appearance at Vintage Band Festival.

1^st Brigade Band

The 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, Wisconsin performs period brass band music from the 1860s on antique instruments, dressed in period clothing. They first began in 1864 when the Brodhead Brass Band enlisted in the Union Army as the band of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 15th Army Corps. Upon leaving Wisconsin, they participated in William T.Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea” to Georgia and the Carolinas. In 2009, the 1st Brigade Band was awarded the Rueben Gold Thwaites Trophy for Local History for collecting and preserving history and sharing it with the public. The band leader is Doug Condon. The 1st Brigade Band is making its fifth Vintage Band Festival appearance.

For the complete schedule of Vintage Band Festival 2022, please visit the VBF website.

Three Links Care Center returns as a Vintage Band Festival Stage Sponsor in 2022

Sponsorships are vitally important to the success of Vintage Band Festival 2022. We want to welcome back Three Links Care Center as a Stage Sponsor for VBF 2022 and Hogan Brothers as a Day Sponsor. Pam Tidona, Marketing Manager at Three Links and Greg Heymans, Proprietor of Hogan Bros., are both enthusiastic supporters of Vintage Band Festival. Greg has told us that Vintage Band Festival weekend is typically his best weekend of the year!

Sponsorship benefits accrue at various levels, including frequent publicity on VBF social media, prominent recognition on banners and signs at the performance venues and in the official Vintage Band Festival program and an invitation to an exclusive donor reception just prior to the festival weekend in July.

Sponsorships are open to both businesses, non-profits and individuals. Stage Sponsorships are achieved with a $1,000 donation, Band Sponsorships occur at the $500 level, and Day Sponsors are named with a $250 donation. Donations of $3,000 or more are designated as Festival Sponsors. Festival Sponsors for VBF 2022 are the Wenger Foundation, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and JoAnn Polley and Mark Ulmer.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Vintage Band Festival Sponsor, please contact Jan Stevens, Fundraising Committee Chair, for more information. Jan can be reached at507-244-0500 or janofdundas@gmail.com.