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Cedarburg Civic Band

W63 N 641 Washington Avenue, Second floor
262-894-8945

Rehearsals are held each Tuesday evening from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

Cedarburg Community Gym W63 N 641 Washington Ave. 2nd floor.

For more than 100 years, the Cedarburg Civic Band's serenades have been as much a part of Cedarburg summers as soft evening breezes from Lake Michigan. Maybe there has been at least one Boerger in the band all that time. Or maybe it just seems like it. Bill Boerger started playing the French horn in the band's concerts more than 30 years ago. "In the parades, he often played the big drum," said Bev Boerger, Bill's widow. "That was because he could wave to all of his friends." Bill's gone now. He died about two years ago, but a family tradition played on Sunday night when the Cedarburg Civic Band played its first concert of the summer with a special Father's Day program. Bill Jr. lives in Germantown now, but drives over to play the trombone. Another son, Bob, lives in Random Lake, but he still drives down with his tuba for concerts and his trumpet for parades. A daughter, Beth Thierfelder, played the flute for several years, and now coordinates the color guard. Beth's daughters Kim and Kelly are in the color guard. "I've moved a couple of times," said Bob, who was 11 years old when he joined the band 27 years ago. "I was raised in Cedarburg, then I lived in Fond du Lac and Sheboygan. Now I'm in Random Lake, but I still participate. I enjoy the music end of it, the challenge. You work your whole life to develop your music skills. You want to use them and not just leave your instrument in a closet at home. It's an opportunity to continue to play and develop friendships along the way. I probably drive furthest from the north. My brother comes up from Germantown just because there is no other band around. If you want to keep involved in playing, there are not many options around." While the Cedarburg Civic Band is still blowing strong after all these years, community bands are disappearing everywhere else