THE WAYNE BAND:
A WAYNESBORO MUSICAL INSTITUTION SINCE 1899
By Robb Helfrick
Music nourishes the soul. Melodic compositions can instantly transport a listener back to a childhood adventure, a romantic courtship, or simply a warm summer evening long ago.
When a talented band plays, these intrinsic qualities often surpass the skills of the individual musicians, and it takes listeners to a magical realm. The Wayne Band is one such gifted group.
The history of community bands has a long tradition in Pennsylvania. Starting in the 1800s, many local towns produced such groups, but most faded into oblivion. In Waynesboro, local companies and civic groups joined this tradition sometime around 1848. Frick Company and the ATH&L firehouse sponsored groups.
Other locals started a brass band and later formed the Cornet Band. Some of these bands wore lavishly trimmed uniforms with red silk sashes and yellow stripes fashioned on blue coats as they marched with highly polished instruments.
Over the years, many of these musical groups, despite popularity and talent, ran their course and disappeared. However, in 1899, a group consisting of past area band members gathered and started a new ensemble. They named themselves the Wayne Band.
The Wayne Band’s first concert was appropriately held in Waynesboro’s Center Square, on a damp September evening in 1899. The 26-piece group was illuminated by light from four gasoline torches. Five years later, the band officially incorporated.
One hundred-twenty-six years after their inaugural event, the Wayne Band remains vital and active, one of the oldest continuously performing musical groups in Pennsylvania.
In the earliest era, Wayne Band membership was by invitation only and had all-male musicians. The group performed at many local celebrations and historic venues. During the summer of 1904, the group traveled to a new attraction that became a Waynesboro landmark.
Cold Spring Park was a natural destination, and the Wayne Band traveled there by trolley to perform. As the park and the band’s popularity grew, concerts were held on summer evenings at dusk, and up to 1000 people attended.
By 1911, the Wayne Band boasted over 30 members. A few years later, the band received an official letter from the American International Music and Theatrical Union, seeking to unionize them.
Another band artifact is a 1915 statement that politely explained the Wayne Band’s account balance was 82 cents in arrears. That same year, an elaborately monogrammed note from C.G. Conn Inc., a company selling the “highest grade of musical instruments”, explained that it was sending a new pad to replace a defective one in the group’s soprano saxophone. Then, the band played on.
An early promotional flyer pictured the Wayne Band, led by Director Harry Krepps, in a formal posed photograph. Admission to the event was 25 cents. The text reminded townspeople that the Wayne Band “affords a great deal of pleasure for our citizens. This pleasure is free to the public.” That charitable tradition has endured throughout the band’s history.
Efforts to expand the band started in 1924. Fifteen years later, the Wayne Band was already an institution and performed at Waynesboro’s Arcade Theatre, a site now lost to history. A professor in the band played a trombone solo titled “Thoughts of Love.”
In 1947, the Wayne Band’s evolving tradition crossed paths with a new Waynesboro sensation: the Waynesboro Tigers’ football team. The band played at all home games, and the next January, they received another letter to add to their archive. The Tigers thanked the Wayne Band for a “terrific lift during the past season,” and offered a $500 donation, a significant amount during that era. The Tigers went on to their most spectacular season in 1948, finishing undefeated.
The following year, the Wayne Band celebrated its golden anniversary with a free concert.
When the 1950s arrived, a new man arrived to direct the group. His name was Asher Edelman, and he became a Wayne Band fixture for the next half-century.
“You could always tell Asher’s style,” said current band Director Dan Deatrich. “Asher was a musical perfectionist.” An orchestra-type band takes on the character of its director, and Edelman’s tenure was no exception.
A talented musician, Asher guided the band through several lean years when membership dwindled to only a dozen musicians. “He kept the band afloat,” Deatrich said about Edelman’s 47-year leadership.
Dan Deatrich also has a long history with the band, joining in 1962. His mother was an organist and played with many groups, but not the Wayne Band. Deatrich was inspired by his mom’s talent. “Music has always been in my life,” Dan recalled. He picked up the baritone horn and was invited by Edelman to join the band. Deatrich didn’t realize back then that he would march many miles with the Wayne Band.
The sixties brought major band changes as the barrier to exclude women musicians was finally removed. Edelman’s wife, Betty, was one of the first ladies to grace a Wayne Band uniform.
Deatrich remembered those black wool uniforms. Over the next decades, changing fashion trends and a move toward casual comfort would alter the band’s wardrobe, but not diminish their distinctive sound. In 1974, with Edelman at the helm and Deatrich and ladies such as flutist Susan Gift playing, the Wayne Band celebrated its 75th anniversary.
Gift joined the band in 1967. She grew up in Waynesboro and has enjoyed 58 years as a pioneer female in the group. She now serves as the band’s Secretary. Susan recalled many trips to local places such as the South Mountain Restoration Center, where the group entertained patients.
“It was wonderful to see people light up when they heard our music,” Gift said. She cherishes the tradition of tireless service the band has built, much of it in private under the public radar. “We’ve done so much for the community, and I’m proud of that.”
As the group’s 100th year approached, it was time to pass the baton to a new director. Asher Edelman retired, and Dan Deatrich was chosen as the interim director. Twenty-five productive years later, Deatrich remains the band’s leader.
When asked about his style of conducting, Deatrich said, “You have to cajole to get the sound you want. Every director does it differently. There are many different personalities and styles within a musical group. You have to consider all those nuances and have proper instrumentation to carry a particular piece.”
As the group evolved, Wayne Band membership grew older, a usual occurrence with community bands. The current median age is middle to late 60s. “I wish we had more younger musicians,” Dan said.
He hopes attention given to the band’s recent 125th anniversary will bring a new generation into the group. Waynesboro citizenship is not a requirement to join the Wayne Band. Members also come from surrounding communities. “We’re an area band,” Deatrich reminded.
John Fitz is the current Wayne Band President, a trumpet player who played his first concert in 1966.
Sandra Lombardo is a flutist, the newest and youngest Wayne Band performer. She drives two hours round-trip from West Virginia to practice and play in Waynesboro. “This is a close-knit group,” Lombardo said about her experience with the group, “We’re like a family. I enjoy playing music with them.”
Jim Bruckart is a retired military physician who moved to the area twelve years ago. He has played trombone with the Wayne Band since his arrival. “There’s a strong history of community bands here. I wanted to be a part of that tradition,” Bruckart said. Jim also commented that he likes the musical variety the band performs, and it provides an opportunity to play year-round.
Bruckart has forged friendships with his bandmates. “When you spend two hours with like-minded people every week, you develop strong camaraderie.”
Looking back over his 60-plus years with the group, Deatrich, 81, was asked what had changed. His answer: “Not too much.” The group still practices every Monday night at Waynesboro’s town hall. Constructed as the Academy of Music in 1881, that building has been a constant companion in the group’s local history. The Wayne Band keeps its sheet music and instruments stored there and also maintains a handsome display case with memorabilia.
The instruments have gotten lighter, Deatrich said, and produce more resonant sound, but the work ethic and traditions the Wayne Band developed over 126 years remain the same. “It’s been a real joy to direct our current group and be part of this band,” Deatrich said. “The Wayne Band has been a constant source of happiness for me.”
Their host community certainly agrees; the band is a Waynesboro treasure. This musical group creates a magical elixir of collective sound, offering one of life’s greatest pleasures. The Wayne Band will perform a concert at Quincy Village’s Hess Room on Monday, November 3, at 7 pm. Holiday events in December will be announced on the TDB events page soon.
