The Muskogee Community Band was originally founded in the late 1940s by Tom Yadon, who is still active in the band today. In 2005, the band was reorganized and obtained 501(c)(3) nonprofit status as the Muskogee Alumni/Community Band. The group’s mission is “to promote and support the Muskogee Area Public School Band Programs through performances and financial donations.”

Two central purposes of the Muskogee Alumni/Community Band are to bring together community band members and alumni from the Muskogee area school systems for both concert and marching band performances, and to financially assist the Muskogee Public School band programs.  

The main goal of the Community Band is to support youth in music education in Muskogee schools. Jerry Huffer, director, says they aim to teach kids to enjoy music for a lifetime, but not necessarily to become professional musicians. To achieve this goal, the band purchases instruments and equipment, funds part-time instructor salaries, and provides scholarships to Muskogee High students for band trips. In addition, the Community Band sponsors performances at the school by well-known groups, and joins with the Muskogee 7th & 8th Grade Center and High School bands for performances such as half-time marching at football homecoming.

While the band averages 70 to 75 musicians for individual performances, 180 active players have participated over the past six years. The band is comprised of individuals from across the community as well as musicians from Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Tulsa, Bartlesville and Sallisaw, and other locations across the state who attended high school in the Muskogee area. All age groups are represented. Last year, graduates from every decade between 1943 and 2010 participated, and two years ago, the oldest musician was 94 years old.

Band members are representative of the diversity in the community and include owners and employees of local businesses, city employees, teachers, pastors, dentists, doctors, surgeons and lawyers. The band is a family activity for many, as couples, parents and children, and even three generations from one family participate together. All participants in the band are volunteers, and the only requirement for membership is that an individual play their instrument at or above the high school level.

Regular annual performances include Symphony in the Park in June, a Fourth of July weekend concert, and marching at football homecoming in the fall. A band alumni reunion is held in conjunction with the homecoming performance. As a community band, the group strives to support the broader community as well as school band programs. This May, the band will hold a concert to benefit the Red Cross.

In addition to performances by the full band during the summer season, small groups perform throughout the year. For example, in December, the brass section performed an arrangement of the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah” at six Muskogee churches.  

For more information about the Muskogee Alumni/Community Band and how to participate, visit www.muskogeecommunityband.com or call Jerry Huffer at 360-7228.

To recommend an organization for a future Nonprofit Buzz column, reach Rebecca Walkup at 683-4600 or rwalkup@thenonprofitresourcecenter.org.