By Richard D. Smith for The Montgomery News | April 30, 2026
An oft-repeated tale about the Blawenburg Band’s founding is probably apocryphal (often believed but unverified). But it’s such a colorful part of this beloved band’s history that it deserves retelling.
Sometime around 1890 (or so the story goes), a shipping crate — as mysterious as it was heavy — arrived in the farming community of Blawenburg. It was addressed to “General Delivery” and (significantly) marked for “General Recreation.”
The Blawenburg Band is now a full 75-piece orchestra.
When opened, its cargo was found to be marching band costumes and a big, brassy cache of horn instruments.
The nucleus of a town band quickly formed, with farmers and merchants mastering the strange but captivating equipment. A young farmer, for example, was recruited as a horn player.
“Do you know how to play the trombone?,” asked one of the local organizers.
“No? Well, then, go behind your barn and learn!”
With no special ear or talent for the task, the fellow nonetheless achieved sufficient mastery to stop traumatizing the ears of listeners (including the farm’s animals).
And — so the saga concludes — an instrument salesman wasn’t far behind, ready to assure a steady supply of instruments.
Dr. Jerry Rife has been the conductor and musical director of the Blawenburg Band since 1985.
Whatever the case, the Blawenburg Band was founded in 1890 and it flourished. The rest is happy history, like something out of the classic Broadway show “The Music Man.” And this month it will celebrate its 136th anniversary with a gala concert.
“There were tens of thousands of town bands in 1800s America,” relates publicity coordinator and clarinetist Eric Saurer. “Many, many little towns had their own bands. Locally these included the Keifers Band in Princeton and the Winkleman Band in Trenton.
Saurer acknowledges the Allentown Band in Pennsylvania is probably America’s oldest community band. “They may be approaching their 200th anniversary. They might be even older than the US Marine Band. The Ringoes Band is 176 years old. We’re young compared to them, we’re only 136 years!”
Like most of these hometown ensembles, the Blawenburg Band started as a strictly brass and percussion band performing summers in little concert gazebos in public parks. Now it’s a full 75-piece orchestra.
“It has all the colors you could ever want in a band,” says Jerry Rife, since 1985 the group’s conductor and musical director.
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Eric Saurer recalls the power a little band can have in a community: “It was two summers ago in Hopewell when we were playing in the park. I distinctly remember we were playing a medley from [the hit Broadway musical] “Carousel,” and there were people in the audience who were brought to tears by it.”
Another park concert was attended by visitors from as far away as Africa. Later, asked what was their favorite moment, they replied without hesitation “The Star Spangled Banner” — and how, without being requested, the audience stood up and started singing along.
“You never know who’s out there in your audience, who’s listening and gets a feeling like that,” says Conductor Rife.
There is a magic, an anticipation, at big brass band summer concerts in parks, as people spread out their blankets and get ready to hear the band.
Says Rife, “You have to give the audience what they come to hear. You need art music and you need foot music.”
Foot music? “People march in their seats, tapping their feet,” he explains.
Although the Blawenburg Band’s membership is large and stable, there is still turnover. Some people leave because they find jobs elsewhere or have to re-prioritize their life’s activities. So, says Rife, “we’re always happy to have new members.”
And who is a modern Blawenburg Band member? The roster is so happily diverse that there is no typical player. Members range in age from early 20s to one 93-years-young senior citizen.
There are students, retirees, business owners, a personal trainer, and even a man who operates a music instrument repair shop. (Handy!)
“We had a cohort of people from Hopewell who were former students who now play with the band,” Rife says, explaining, “I go to Hopewell to clinic their high school band.”
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He adds, “We had five people who were getting their doctorates in biology at Princeton University and had to stay during the summers to run their thesis experiments.”
Prospective members are encouraged to join a rehearsal and see if they can play at comparable levels with the others. This isn’t musical elitism.
“I’m looking out for them,” Rife explains. “It’s misery if the music is always too hard.”
Eric Saurer interjects, “We are a family. It’s a delight to spend time together making music.”
Rife emphasizes, “Nobody gets paid here. It’s just, ‘Give me your time and we’ll make magic.’”
May 17, College of New Jersey
The Blawenburg Band celebrates its 136th birthday on May 17 at 3 pm in Kendall Hall at the College of New Jersey, 52 Pennington Road, in Ewing Township. At this show, the band will premiere “Under One Flag: Struggle and Resilience,” a new work it has commissioned from composer/conductor Phillip Orr.
This summer, the Blawenburg Band will celebrate the 250th Anniversary of America’s independence with a four-part concert series (made possible in part by a Special Projects Grant from the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission):
June 13 - Old Barracks Museum, Trenton, 5 pm
July 4 - Washington Crossing State Park, NJ side, 7 pm
July 8 - Cadwalader Park, Trenton, 5 pm or 7 pm
July 30 - Morven Museum and Gardens, Princeton, 6 pm
Also continuing is the Blawenburg Band’s beloved annual — and very family-friendly — summer series at the Hopewell Train Station.
Most events are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit: blawenburgband.org.
