HOMER GILBERT A MUNICIPAL BAND FIXTURE FOR 70 YEARS

Homer Gilbert, Cape Girardeau Municipal Band's oldest member, said learning to play the trumpet was "a matter of strap and whip."

Gilbert, 83, began learning the trumpet at age 9 and joined the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band when he was 14. "My trumpet career," said Gilbert, "was inspired by my mother, who said I'd ~`get the strap' if I didn't learn to play."

If Gilbert had been given a choice in the matter, he would have been outside with other boys his age. "But once I got older and started playing with different groups," he said, "I really started enjoying it."

Gilbert is completing his 70th year with the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band and has observed some significant changes since he joined in 1927.

Gilbert said directors 70 years ago played much "heavier" concerts.

"We would perform maybe three or four heavy overtures in one concert, whereas today we play more of a crowd-pleaser -- maybe a jazz piece and one rock 'n' roll piece with a Sousa march and an overture. It's more diversified and more for the audience's enjoyment these days."

The size and demographics of the band also have changed: When Gilbert joined the band its 30 members were all males; today the band has approximately 55 members of both sexes.

Gilbert and other senior band members like Dan Cotner and Fred Goodwin, who were honored last year for their service to the band, have played under more than a dozen directors. Though he has seen many, Thomas A. Danks, former conductor of the U.S. Army Band in France after World War I, was always Gilbert's favorite.

"He was rough and tough," said Gilbert, "but I really liked his style. He had this way about him that, if he told you something once, you understood it the very first time. Nowadays, people can tell you something 10 times and you still won't understand it."

Gilbert kept a faithful membership in the Cape Girardeau band for 70 years, only straying from the band and from the region for one year when he played in a 14-piece band at Savannah, Ga.

Even while in Savannah, however, Gilbert kept his membership in the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band. Upon returning to Cape Girardeau, he immediately returned to playing with the band.

Gilbert's other musical experiences include 25 years of playing trumpet with bands that performed at the Purple Crackle in East Cape Girardeau. Now a popular night spot for younger people, the Crackle used to be a formal supper club that featured big-band music and dancing.

Outside of playing the trumpet, Gilbert concentrates on fishing and Bible classes. But his interests are not limited to specific hobbies.

"I enjoy hearing other people's opinions, just to hear the difference between theirs and my own," he said.

Gilbert's love for music is recognizable by those who spend time around him.

Said Municipal Band director Ron Nall: "If there's one thing that I notice about Homer, it's that, even if he isn't feeling good, he still comes faithfully to concerts and practices, just because he loves the music."