Brown County
Community Band
Christmas Concert 2019. photos by Cindy Steele
~by Julia Pearson
I
n 1999 Brown County’s Chet Kylander felt the first stirrings to organize a community band. Mel Chance served as the first director, to be followed a year later by Ray Laffin. Ray continued in this role for around 15 years. A non-profit entity to provide board oversight and fundraising was formed under the name of Brown County Music, Incorporated, in 2005. Today the Brown County Community Band is directed by Shawn Bentz, who sees the band reaching for the sky as it develops its repertoire and musicality. Bentz’s talent and vision for the band springs from his own composition and arrangement of music. He has been a school band director, as well as performing with the Columbus City Band. His musical selections fit the abilities of the members—which vary from first-year high school band to retired professional musicians.
38 Our Brown County • Jan./Feb. 2020
It’s a village unto itself of folks who love playing music together. They gather every Thursday evening from 7 to 8:30 at the Brown County High School for rehearsals in a “relaxing environment.” He sees its membership growing in numbers and recognizes increasing enthusiasm for the jazz styles of the 1940s and 50s. There is an interest in forming a smaller group made up of members of the larger concert band to focus on music for a jazz ensemble. Though Ray Laffin and his wife Judy have made their home in Arizona since the summer of 2015, Laffin is a tender vessel of institutional memory for the Brown County Community Band. He recalls that the band once had four trombone players that were all pastors. Private lessons on various instruments were provided by band members Mel Chance, Verne Sindlinger, Sue
