Lou’s View
MUSIC TO MY EARS
By Lou Bernard
For some reason, I get blamed for a lot of stuff I didn’t do. People tend to come to me with complaints about articles, as if I write the entire newspaper. Sometimes, someone comes completely out of left field and credits me with something I could not possibly have done, such as the woman who claimed I interviewed her in 1995. (For the record, I was in my twenties and bartending in 1995.)
Or the woman who said to me,”Oh, I’m not sure I’m allowed to talk to you. My husband is angry with you for something you wrote about the Repasz Band.”
“I’ve never written about the Repasz Band,” I said. “Perhaps you are thinking of Chris Miller. Here, let me give you his e-mail.”
“No, I’m sure it was you,” she said. “He didn’t like what you wrote about the Repasz Band.”
Now, even leaving out the feminist point of view here, this makes no sense to me on several levels. First, how controversial could a historical band be? And second, to say I’ve written about Lock Haven’s Repasz Band is a huge stretch. I went back and checked, and before this column, I mentioned it exactly once in print. Just once, about ten years ago.
The story begins with Harry Krape, who graduated from the Central State Normal School, which is now whatever they’re calling Lock Haven University. He went to the Hew England Conservatory of Music before returning to Lock Haven to teach and repair instruments. And he was the conductor of the local Repasz Band. (IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS FACT IS LITERALLY ALL I HAVE EVER WRITTEN ABOUT THE REPASZ BAND.)
Harry Krape also had enough pull in the music industry to bring John Philip Sousa to Lock Haven, not just once, but three times.
On November 26, at three PM, crowds packed the Opera House to hear Sousa’s band. Lock Haven and Williamsport were the only Pennsylvania locations to host Sousa all year, and he was leaving for Europe soon after. So everyone wanted to come and hear him. It was also the day before Thanksgiving, and everyone was a bit desperate for entertainment.
Sousa’s band played “Looking Upward,” “Imperial Edward,” and “In the Realm of the Dance,” according to the articles in the local newspaper.
The concert having been a huge success, eight years later, Krape managed it again.
Krape learned that Sousa was playing in southeastern Pennsylvania, specifically Allentown and Willow Grove, and managed to wrangle another Opera House appearance. On September 16, 1910, Sousa’s band returned to play “Has Anyone Seen Kelly?” and “Dwellers of the Western World.” (For the record, these are songs I have never heard of. I’m just pulling the titles out of the old newspapers.)
The train carrying Sousa’s band was running behind, which resulted in them beginning at the Opera House half an hour later than planned. Nobody complained about the band beginning at nine rather than eight-thirty, because it was fun, and because practically everything routinely began late in those days.
Sousa made up for it the next time he came to Lock Haven, three years later. This time, he was playing at the Martin Theater on East Main Street, and he began at 2:15 instead of the originally scheduled three PM. Sousa had to shuffle a few things around to accommodate the rest of his schedule, and the owners of the theater, having been given two hours notice of this, rallied nicely.
Those are the three times John Philip Sousa has ever visited Lock Haven. I hope you enjoyed my column today. If not, it’s probably because of the Repasz Band. Just a second; I’ll get you Chris Miller’s e-mail.
