For the Family
Aaron Zlatnik, right, and Shirley Jacobson, below, are two senior members of the Santa Fe Band. Created as an apprentice band for railroad workers, the group will soon celebrate 100 years.
santa fe band
‘When They Hear Us
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play’
or me, listening to the Santa Fe Band conjures memories of playing alto saxophone in the high school band. The bass drum set the beat; drumsticks jittered across the snares and cymbals added punch! Used to be, you’d find a band shell on the grounds of every county courthouse in the state, along with a band to fill it and take you back with the sounds of yesteryear. Topeka is fortunate that summertime concerts by the Santa Fe Band still provide an opportunity for grandparents, moms and dads, and children to relax in a lawn chair and enjoy this simple pleasure.
TOPEKAMAGAZINE Summer 2010
Santa Fe Band brings golden musical favorites to summer
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The Santa Fe Band will perform this summer as part of the city’s 2010 Evening Concerts in the Park at the Gage Park Amphitheater. The free performances begin at 7:30 p.m. on June 6 and 27, and July 25. Other bands appearing in this series include Marshall’s Civic Band, Topeka Jazz Workshop, North Topeka Community Band and the 35th Infantry Division Band of the Kansas Army National Guard. For more information, contact the city of Topeka at (785) 368-2449. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The Santa Fe Band is the last of the railroad bands, those musical groups of the Iron Horse era that were formed to spread good cheer whether on board a train, at company activities or community concerts and parades. Originally assembled in 1911 as an apprentice band to instill pride among workers, the group changed
its name in 1924 to the Topeka Shop Band and finally the Santa Fe Band in 1950. In recent years, membership has been open to any talented area musician. Historically, however, the band would draw on railroad workers as members, though it was sometimes the other way around— drawing workers from musicians.
STORY BY Debra Guiou Stufflebean | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Jason Dailey
“A person would often get hired according to what instrument was needed in the band,” says 46-year band veteran Larry Mischke. A Santa Fe Band member for 60 years, trumpet player Shirley Jacobson recalls conductor Clarence Whitlow tapping her as the band’s first female high school member. “And when I graduated, I had a job with the railroad,” says Jacobson. “I’m 100 percent sure my ability to play an instrument influenced the hiring decision.” A band like the Santa Fe, which plays in Gage Park, at area retirement centers and for private parties, provides an opportunity for musicians to use their talent long after, and sometimes before, the years of high school band. Aaron Zlatnik, who began playing with the band at age 12 and succeeded Clarence Whitlow as its second conductor in 1988, has six young teenagers playing in the band, including his daughter Amber. Young people are essential to the band rejuvenating itself and continuing traditions, the musicians say. “Some of our members had daughters that used to come with them to practice and like to dance, so Whitlow had little sailor pinafores made for them and gave each
of them a flag and made them part of the show. To this day, we still give kids flags to wave during our closing song, Stars and Stripes,” says Larry Mischke. “I think Clarence Whitlow and his wife, since they didn’t have any children, thought of us as their kids.” Whitlow savored his role as a mentor, says Jacobson, who even refers to him as “Dad.” “He kind of treated us that way. If ‘Dad’ spoke, you listened,” Jacobson laughs. “And he could guilt you into performing. You didn’t tell him you had something else to do.” Jacobson recalls how the band used to wear heavy, itchy wool uniforms with parade high collars and double-breasted gold buttons. “I called it my toy soldier uniform,” she says. “It didn’t make any difference if it was 108 degrees at 7 p.m., Dad would make us wear them. He wanted us to look and act sharp like a military band.” While the attire today is considerably more relaxed, part of the reason is a matter of dollars and cents. “Each of the old uniforms could easily have cost $1,500,” says Zlatnik, “so we started wearing black dress pants and white shirts with the Santa Fe insignia on the back.”
Zlatnik laments that part of the band’s funding was cut from the Topeka Parks and Recreation Department budget. “Where we used to play six concerts in the summer, we are scheduled to play three this year,” he says. “We hope people will turn out in support of us. In these tough economic times, these concerts are wonderful family outings.” It’s obvious that a sense of family and a love for music hold this group together. In addition to the John Philip Sousa standards, each member has a favorite. Jacobson, who plays trumpet, enjoys songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. Mischke, also a trumpet player, likes anything Dixieland. Zlatnik favors songs like Warren’s God of Our Fathers or Dvorak’s New World Symphony. What they all do agree on is the joy they feel when something they play resonates with a listener. “Even the facial expression of people with Alzheimer’s will frequently change; they’ll start smiling when they hear us play,” says Zlatnik. “I’ve seen folks with no mobility in wheelchairs start gently tapping a finger,” Jacobson adds. “Somehow our music has touched a memory of a happier time.”
TOPEKAMAGAZINE Summer 2010