Conductor George Unverzagt

The Lehigh Concert Band, an organization of amateur magicians living in Lehigh, has been around almost as long as Lehigh Acres itself.

Members, some two dozen strong, practice throughout the fall and winter months because many of the musicians are snowbirds who come back to Lehigh for the fall and winter concerts.

George Unverzagt is the brass and wind band’s conductor and maestro and he conducts the rehearsal sessions before each performance.

“We have a good bunch of people who really enjoy playing several performances during the season. And we are always looking for more,” said Unverzagt last week during a rehearsal. There is one more rehearsal before the band’s next performance on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., November 15 at Faith Lutheran Church.

Unverzagt said the next performance will be a foot tapper for those who enjoy patriotic music.

Len Makowski, Terry Gable, Bill Hostetler. Bea Foulette and Dennis Rock

Many of those in the band were professionals before their retirement years and others in the band played back in high school or college. When many of them heard of the Lehigh Concert Band, they came to a practice and that is what conductor Unverzagt likes.

“We always need more people. Our band really enjoys performing together and we work hard at it during rehearsals. We invite the young and the older people … as long as they can play an instrument, we will do the rest,” he said.

The next performance this month is titled “A Tribute to our Veterans and current Armed forces,” and will begin as the band always does, with The National Anthem.

“That’s pretty much traditional at the beginning of each concert,” Unverzagt said.

The other night Unverzagt waved his baton as members chimed in with their clarinets, trombones, coronets and flutes. And a drummer stood in the back keeping perfect time to the music. The concert band also has a percussion section.

From left to right are Dick Ward, Bea Williams and Jim Kreger

“We’ve got a lot to do tonight,” Conductor Unverzagt shouted as band members quieted down from their own individual warming up of their instruments, the same sounds you hear before a grand performance.

“Now we’re going to play this in B flat scale – let’s go,” said Unverzagt as he began to extend his baton up in the air. Keeping perfect timing, he then lowered the baton and with his other hand signaled the trumpet players to play a little quieter so the sounds of the flutes would not be muffled.

At one point, the conductor stopped and raised his voice and said, “Hey, you’re blowing your guts out, a little quieter …”

This is the perfect lingo you hear from any band director or maestro who wants to make sure all the performers and their instruments blend in together, according to the scores of music in front of them.

The rehearsal was scheduled for two hours. He told the 20 or so members who had come to this first rehearsal for the November show that the next scheduled rehearsal would be this week.

Peter Heubeck

“So come prepared, because that is the last before the Nov. 15 concert,” he said.

The Lehigh Concert Band performs at the Faith Lutheran Church in Sweatlock Hall. The church is at 705 Leeland Heights Blvd., between Greenwood Ave. and Maple Ave. There is plenty of parking in the rear of the church grounds.

And the concert is free.

“It has always been free,” Unverzagt said. “People can donate if they want, but there is no admittance price to get in. We pass the hat around and if anyone wants to give, that is fine because the money goes to buy the music which we have to purchase.

Sweatlock Hall at the Faith Lutheran Church will hold about 300 people in comfortable chairs but the venue is not always full, mainly because the band doesn’t promote itself as well as it probably could.

Eva Neumayer

Some of the old-timers in the band says it goes back to the 1970s, they think.

Back in those years, traveling to Fort Myers for a concert was a long trip down what was known as Anderson Road, not Dr. Martin King Jr. (MLK) Highway as it is known today. Anderson Rd. was a narrow two-lane highway and few people went to Fort Myers, except to work or to shop for things that were not in Lehigh. Most of the people living in Lehigh were of retirement age and they wanted to created their own cultural events in town.

Back in those years, the band performed in the old Lehigh Auditorium on Joel Blvd. which is now a church and before that it was a buffet restaurant and before that, it sat empty for years, until it was purchased by Eugen Borosch, a Lehigh businessman.

“From what I have been told, the auditorium was the place to go in those early years of Lehigh,” said Unverzagt. Indeed, the auditorium was the “entertainment center” of Lehigh. That is where several out-of-town shows were brought to Lehigh to entertain not only those living in the community but for those that the former Lehigh Corp. brought to Lehigh to sell building lots to and then to dine them at the old Admiral Lehigh Hotel and to entertain them at the auditorium.

Some 14 selections have been selected for the Nov. 15 concert. They include such pieces as Alte Kameraden, Semper Fidelis, Cassions Go Rolling Along, Glory of the Yankee, Cabaret and Chorus Line. It concludes with American Tribute and an encore of Fairest of the Fair.

The people who have taken up their instruments to play in the band seem to enjoy performing in front of a crowd and Unverzagt hopes for a large turnout.

The Lehigh Band will perform monthly until April with such themes as seasonal music for the holidays on Dec. 20.

The last concert on April 13, 2010, will conclude this season’s series of concerts as some of the members, who are snowbirds, return up north and the locals take a breather.

The first show of this season was in October.

Members of the Lehigh Concert Band are Jim Burke, Diane Chernow, Bruce Cleveland, Lynne Criss, who is president of the band; Jarvis Dais, Ken and Bea Folette – Bea is treasurer and from New York; Sally rock, Peter Heubeck, who is from Germany; Bill Hostetler, Len Makowski, Karen McCully, Len Mlejnek, Eva Neumayer, from Canada; A.B. Reynolds of Lehigh, an honoree member; Dennis Rock, Helen Rock, Jim Rudolph, Peter Serries.

Sandy Silver, who is also the librarian and secretary; George and Kathryn Unverzagt, Dick Ward from Michigan, John Wegener, Bee Williams, Norma Jean young, who is from Ohio, and Terry Gable, the newest member of the band.

Instruments include clarinets trumpets, flutes, oboes, English horns and the tuba, the French horn, percussion, saxophones and tenor saxophones and the alto and baritone saxophones.

Jim Kreger, a member of the band, who is also the minister of music at Faith Lutheran Church, said he urges music lover to come to the concert series.

“We have a talented group of musicians and they want to give to Lehigh the best performance they can … and they’re very, very good,” he said.

Again, the performances are free. They are at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoons and they are in Sweatlock Hall at Faith Lutheran Church. The acoustics are perfect and the band doesn’t use speakers because they are not needed.