Cressona Band excited patriotic fervor in Port Carbon concert

Jul. 20—PORT CARBON — John Place got up from his lawn chair and stood in silence as the Cressona Band played "Anchors Aweigh" Wednesday in Veterans Memorial Park.

In his mind's eye, for a few brief moments, he could see an 18-year-old sailor aboard a Navy LST during an attack on Cambodia in the Vietnam War.

"It was a time when you didn't know what was going to happen next," recalled Place, 72, who's retired and lives in Pottsville.

Place's reaction was typical of many in the crowd of about 100 that turned out Wednesday evening to hear the 121-year-old band's salute to the armed forces.

Applause rang through the crowd as the band, assembled in a plaza beneath an American flag, played the theme songs of the nation's army.

Beneath a setting sun, people relaxing on lawn chairs and listening to "Stars and Stripes Forever" had the feel of small-town America.

Amid bronze plaques commemorating veterans' service to their country, a large mural of the Schuylkill Canal as a backdrop, the concert was steeped in history.

John P. Shoener, associate conductor, directed the band in the third of six concerts in its summer series.

A Pottsville native and band director at Shenandoah Valley School District, Shoener said the Cressona Band is proud to play tributes to the nation's veterans.

John Philip Sousa marches, military anthems and tributes like "America the Beautiful" are among the band's most popular numbers.

"They take people back to an earlier time in their lives," Shoener said. "That's the power of music."

Bob Gruber, a member of the Cressona Band, was a member of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division Band in Korea during the late 1980s.

He played euphonium in the concert finale, an ode to America's beautiful spacious skies, amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties.

"People like patriotic music because it's a tradition," said Gruber, a Berks County resident. "It's what they like, and I do it for the people."

Place, who's retired from the former Hamburg Center, said hearing "Anchors Aweigh" made him think of his old Navy buddies and all who served during the Vietnam War.

"I go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Schuylkill Haven a couple times a year," he said. "They deserve our respect; they gave their lives for us."

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007