[Dixielandjazz] sorry guys

[Paul Kurtz Jr]

OK, true confessions. One of my community bands did indeed play the Star-Spangled Banner for our minor league baseball team. I’d forgotten that till I just sat back and thought about it. We had hoped to get some positive publicity out of it but not a lot has generated. It was good experience for some less-experienced players, but I don’t think it did a lot for the band long-term. 

I’m also thinking about something else. It is indeed true that a lot of minor league baseball teams really operate on a shoestring. The family that runs baseball operations here in Jacksonville, FL is a truly dedicated baseball family and they offer a ton of things for the community because they’ve been here for over 50 years. But, when either a paid band or a 501C3 community band is itself running on a shoestring, I don’t feel an obligation to push the members of those types of groups to play for free unless they feel the urge themselves. It’s the same with weddings and hundreds of dollars spent on flowers and food and no money for the musicians. I’m sure we’ve all beaten these dead horses even deader than they are. :-) :-) :-) 
Paul Kurtz Jacksonville, FL