Who would have thought an old trumpet given to a sixth grader would have culminated in the 2019 Tommy Guilbert “Music for Life” Award? Well, anyone who knows my dad, Warren (Bud) Breese, would. My dad received this honor on Saturday, March 16 from the Wadsworth (Ohio) Community Band at their concert held at the O.J. Work Auditorium. Dad was a member of the band from its inception in 2004 until recent health challenges in 2018 arose that has prevented him from being able to continue his much loved hobby.
I am so proud of my dad. While he would say it is no big deal, I think he is wrong. That he is receiving the award shows that others realize how important music has been in his life. I had the privilege to sit down with him recently to hear how it all began.
Dad got his first trumpet in the sixth grade. It was an old beat up instrument. Just a cheap trumpet (around $30) from the school’s music teacher. The trumpet’s tuning slide was frozen, so he was always a little sharp when he played.
In seventh grade, he started at the Garfield School in Medina, Ohio. That was also the first year that Dick Stacy became the band director in Medina. Dad joined the junior high band at that time. Dick Stacy encouraged my dad. In fact Dad said that “He was a stand up guy.”
It was when Dad went to eighth grade that he got a new cornet. The cost of the horn was $130. This was a “lot of money back then,” Dad told me. As he went through school he said a lot of people took private lessons on Saturdays. Dad took lessons from Mr. Swank. It was through his tutelage that Dad learned the important technique of double tonguing. (If you played any brass instrument, you have an idea of what that means.)
He said this was important because he was then selected to perform the Bugler’s Holiday as a sophomore. This was a big deal as most parts like this went to upper classmen. Again, it was Dick Stacy who stepped in and gave Dad this opportunity. There was an upper classman, Colyn, who had tried out for the part as well. Stacy told Colyn that he had had many times to be in the spotlight, but he wanted to give “Bud a shot.” So Dad got the part. Not only that, but he was able to play with two of his good friends from school, Nancy and Jolene. (Nancy had persuaded Dad’s foster parents to get him his first trumpet; Jolene was Dad’s first crush.)
The trio played this piece several times that year. They had to memorize their parts. Dad played the third trumpet part. Jolene was the second trumpet and Nancy was first. Dad recalled that during the Medina High School Fashion show, where they were playing, as third trumpet, he usually began each phrase. However, there was one time when Nancy was supposed to start the phrase. She missed it. He said at the time it wasn’t funny, but now he is able to look back at it and laugh.
I asked Dad if Medina High School had a marching band. He enthusiastically responded, “Of course! It was the best marching band in the county.” In his junior year (1955-1956) the High School band was given the nickname of the Marching 100. It was named that by the band announcer, Robert Dague.
In addition to the marching band, Dad also participated in the concert band and The Stardusters, which was the dance band of Medina High School. Dad explained that after the home football games The Stardusters played at the high school dances.
In those days, you had to try out for the bands. Dad said he didn’t expect to make concert band in his freshman year, but he did. While he never got to play first chair throughout his time in school, he did make it to second chair, first cornet.
After Dad graduated from high school, he and his cornet moved to California to live with his grandmother. They lived near Los Angeles. At the time there was a televised talent show called Rocket to Stardom. It was created by Robert “Bob” Yeakel, a local Oldsmobile dealer. Dad tried out for the show. He wanted to sing on it, but once they heard that he could play the cornet, they asked him to do that instead. So Dad played “Blues in the Night” on TV on a Saturday in the late 1950’s. My dad was a TV star! (O.K. maybe a bit of an overstatement, but I just found this out in the last few weeks. My whole life I had no idea he had done that!)
Dad returned to Medina after about a year in Los Angeles. When he did he joined the summer band that played on the Square in Medina. He played in it until he joined the Army in 1960. While he didn’t play the cornet in the Army, he had thought about trying out for the bands and the choir. I think he didn’t because he probably was afraid of not being selected. — Who hasn’t had a fear of rejection?– However, he says even now that he regrets not trying.
Once Dad came back from the Army and life started happening, he didn’t have a lot of time for playing his horn. But his love for it never stopped. Throughout his life he has always found ways to break out the cornet occasionally. He created a church band at Christ the King, Lutheran Church in Lodi, Ohio for a time. He gathered together the youth in the church to play for Easter and Christmas. Dad would spend time transposing the music so that everyone could play who wanted to.
As an over-the-road truck driver, Dad could never really commit to joining a band. Although there was a time when a former classmate of his started the Medina County Alumni Band. All residents of Medina County could join the band, not just Medina High School graduates. So Dad joined, even though he was still driving truck. He learned the music while driving his semi. Distracted driving at it’s best!
However, it wasn’t until he retired in 2003 that he was able to dive back into his passion of playing in a band. He joined the Litchfield Community Band which holds ice cream socials several Friday nights in the square during summers.
When he learned that there was going to be a community band starting in Wadsworth, Ohio, he determined that he would participate in it. The band started in 2004 and Dad was there. I’m not sure if he was at the very first practice, but he has been a fixture since. So it wasn’t a surprise to me to learn that the current band director Pat Santelli nominated him for the “Music for Life” award.
My dad not only loves music and playing the horn, he also loves singing. He passed that on to his children, too. We all had the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. I can play the trumpet (not very well) and trombone. Randi, one of my sisters, plays the piano and clarinet and guitar. We enjoy singing, too. In fact, at one point, we had the Breese Family Singers. We sang at church picnics. Even today, if you ask Dad, Randi and me to sing “People, People,” we will and include the choreography!
After Dad received the award he told the audience that he would treasure it for the rest of his life. And I’m pretty sure that if my dad’s health conditions improve, he’ll do everything he can to continue to be in the band. After all, for him, music is for life.
