Rick Baker, music director and conductor of the Arlington Community Band leads the ensemble during a patriotic performance July 4 outside of Arlington City Hall. Baker has been the band’s director since 2010.
An ensemble of chiming bells cut through the humid summer air on Saturday.
Moments later, once the ringing died down, a crisp, sustained drumroll echoed across downtown Arlington. Hats came off, and hands found hearts.
Band director Rick Baker held his baton aloft for only a moment before slicing downward. In an instant, the Arlington Community Band answered, the first notes of the national anthem rising over the crowd.
For years, the band has helped provide the soundtrack for Arlington’s Independence Day celebration. This year, the ensemble found itself honoring more than Independence Day. As the nation celebrates its 250 anniversary and the city marks its 150, the band’s own history has come full circle.
Baker is one of the long-standing members of the band. For 28 years, he played trumpet, and now he serves as the director. He said after the position change, his focus shifted from being a performer to ensuring the band is a good performing group for the community.
“We’re the official band of the city of Arlington, so if they see us and hear us, I want it to be the best Arlington has to offer,” Baker said.
Terry Finley, president and French horn player for the band, said the band was initially formed in 1976 for the country’s bicentennial celebration. After that, Baker said there was a brief hiatus, but it bounced back in 1982, and the band has remained a pillar ever since.
“This band was created and formed 50 years ago for that special occasion. It will kind of be going full circle for us to say ‘Hey, this was our original roots,’” Finley said. “Our original foundation was for a parade of this kind.”
As the final note of the anthem faded, community members and parade goers slowly sat back down, some wiping tears from their eyes. When asked what sparked the emotional reaction, McKinney, Texas, resident Kerry Prather, 72, could only say one word: patriotism.
While Saturday was euphonium player Ed Howard’s second performance with the community band, he already had a front-row seat to the tradition.
“I live for this stuff,” Howard said. “Watching the high schools coming along, the whole ambiance, it feels like a point where everybody can be together at once.”
For the musicians, that spirit extends beyond the Fourth of July.
“Music brings us together,” said Jim Ecabert, trumpet player in the band since about 1993. “It’s been a great family.”
Some musicians found the band after decades away from performing.
Percussionist Suzanne Winter, 75, hadn’t picked up an instrument in almost 25 years, and said the band’s director at the time, Bob Copeland, welcomed her into the ensemble with open arms.
“I am tone deaf,” Winter said. “But I love music.”
She said the band has a mix of people from all backgrounds. From retired and current band directors to individuals not pursuing music as a professional career, they all have one thing in common, she said: the enjoyment that comes from playing music.
San Antonio resident Sharon Starks, 69, said she sat across the street so she could hear the band play.
“Music is the backdrop for something like this,” Starks said.
Trumpet valves flashed in the morning sun as clarinet players leaned into the melody. Several musicians quietly tapped their feet against the pavement, keeping time while their music fluttered in the summer breeze.
@tay._.sansom