By Herb Moering
For older Winter Texans the big band jams are a trip down memory lane with music for listening and dancing for some.
About 50 residents and visitors were on hand for a performance at Trail’s End MH and RV Park in Weslaco on a recent Saturday afternoon, which is one of three venues visited by the only big band in the Valley. The group of guys and gals also play from 1 to 3 p.m. on Mondays at Mission Bell-Trade Winds RV Resort and from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays at nearby Valley View Estates in Mission.
Until last year the band played at a Donna RV park, according to former Iowa high school band director Les Aldrich, who acts as the group’s manager. Having to move brought them back to Trail’s End where they had played regularly in the past.
The band is operating on the programming and scheduling plans set by the late Roger Steiger, who had been managing the group for a long time. He passed away last summer and Aldrich, a sax, flute, clarinet and piano player, said the band is planning a tribute show to honor Mr. Steiger at all three venues on February 9, 11 and 14.
Aldrich had performed in dance bands in Iowa for 40 years and was in the Dick Dale’s-Lawrence Welk orchestra last performance. He has had his school jazz band music published.
Aiding Aldrich in managing the band is accordionist John Kujda, who lives full-time in Weslaco and joined the group in 2016. He was a Sears repairman for 32 years, but found time to play with various polka bands, including Frankie Yankovic and Myron Floren from the Lawrence Welk orchestra. He was also part-owner of the Dick Macko Big Band in Minnesota. Kujda’s wife, Joyce, is the emcee for the jams, announcing the performing order and any other important notes.
The band was formed some 30 years ago and was larger then with six saxophones, a half-dozen trumpets, three or four trombones and a keyboard, according to singer Ann Butler. The Canadian from Manitoba, who lives at McAllen’s Paradise Park, has sung with the band since its early days. Her late husband was a sax player with bands for 20 years when not farming.
Butler, who has been a soloist in festivals and choral groups, is one of several featured singers with the band. Jane Kumor, a percussionist from Illinois living at Casa Del Valle RV Resort in Alamo, has been singing as part of the big band group for the past 15 years. She started performing early in several bands organized by her late husband. Kumor, who was a first-grade schoolteacher for 35 years, also was a performer with her husband on a Mississippi riverboat out of Moline, IL for 10 years.
A number of the musicians also are singers such as guitarist Andy Anderson, formerly from Wisconsin, where he was with the National Park Service and is now living full-time at Paradise Park in McAllen. Anderson, who likes to promote the band, offers songs that often have a humorous story attached.
Drummer Kim Koppelman, who also plays trombone and piano, has been playing and singing with bands since high school in North Dakota. He was a band director for a short time but has owned an advertising agency for 43 years. Koppelman, who lives in La Feria, was a North Dakota legislator for 28 years, retiring when he was speaker of the state house. He has been with this band for four years and laughed about his figuring how to “join by invitation.”
Staying in Pharr’s Southgate Subdivision, Pat Arguello is known for use of several trumpets and sings too, with 17 years in big bands. From North Dakota, she began playing in her dad’s band, Ray Groom & His Band, while in junior high school. While working 40 years as a pattern maker in the garment industry, with 25 years in Chicago, she managed to play in concert bands and church praise bands and here in the RGV she was part of Sonic’s Rock n’ Roll Band.
Another member, Manitoba, Canadian, Don Pritchard, is a guitarist and singer with the big band for 16 years. Pritchard, who stays at Paradise Park in McAllen, started out in 1964, playing in a rock n’ roll band and was in two more over the years. He also played for 10 years in a dance band, took 10 years off before coming to the RGV in 2009. During his time in the Valley, he was involved in big band, rock n’ roll and country music. He was in chemical sales for 23 years after a 10-year stint as a teacher. He also had a home repair business.
The newest band member who came this season is Earl “Mac” McGill, staying at Pharr South Park. He is playing tenor saxophone, with his first sax acquired at an auction when he was 13 years old. McGill was in the U.S. Army, which included a tour to Germany with the regimental band. He was also part of the Iowa Military Veterans Band, a one of a kind. He also owned a restaurant in Grandview Iowa.
A few other regulars include bass and tuba player Dennis Schweibert and trumpet players Del Hickey and Marlyn Krueger.
Several band members are branching out into a Jazz Night performance on Saturdays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Sinatra Restaurant in McAllen. The quartet includes Aldrich, Kumer, Ginny Schmidt and Koppelman.
