website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTq4W24ndtE
First Brigade Band
Heritage Military Music
Foundation (HMMF)
1st Brigade Band
WHS_021_700H
2002
2002 ice cream social at Octagon (1 of 2)
2002 ice cream social at Octagon (2 of 2)
2004
09 25 40th ANNIVERSARY
The 1st Brigade Band will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a free
concert as part of Watertown’s three-day Fall Festival which begins Friday
night. The renowned Civil War band, headquartered in Watertown, will give a
concert in a large tent in the North First Street parking lot on Saturday
beginning at 3:30 p.m. Directed by David Woolpert, the band members will be
wearing Civil War clothing while performing with vintage instruments. Sponsors
of the concert are River City Distributing Co. and Seven-Up Bottling Co. The
concert is one of numerous activities planned in conjunction with the festival,
according to Gail MacAskill, director of the Main Street Program, sponsoring
the festival.
2005
Civil
War books as well as instruments in Heritage Hall of Watertown, Wisconsin.
A
collection of Civil War books was the inspiration for the creation of a library
and museum in Heritage Hall in Watertown, Wisconsin, home of the 1st Brigade
Band.
The
Civil War books, with an estimated value of $18,000, were a gift to the
Heritage Military Music Foundation from the late William “Bill” Kwapil, a Watertown businessman who was a staunch supporter
of the foundation’s legendary 1st Brigade Band.
The Civil War books are now displayed in renovated rooms in Heritage
Hall, which houses the foundation’s collections.
For
more information about the band, its history, pictures of instruments, sound
clips of its music recordings, or its schedule, see the Web site www.1stbrigadeband.org .
Read the
full article about Heritage Hall
in the May 7, 2005 edition of the Watertown
Daily Times.
2006
02 06 NEW BANDMASTER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Heritage Military Music Foundation has announced the appointments
of two members of the 1st Brigade Band to the positions of bandmaster and
managing director. Effective March 1, Jon Condon will be the new bandmaster and
David Woolpert will be the managing director of the 1st Brigade Band. Condon will replace retiring bandmaster Dan
Woolpert, who plans to continue active involvement with the band by performing,
arranging music and serving as instrument curator and goodwill ambassador.
2022
09 18 FIRST BRIGADE BAND SERVICE AT FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
2023
02 18 DAN G. WOOLPERT
(1935-2023)
Dan began
playing Bb Bass horn with the 1st Brigade Band in 1976. He was appointed Bandmaster of the group in
1983, and continued until 2007, directing more than 400 performances. Online
obit
09 06 1st BRIGADE BAND MURAL (N
Fourth and E Main)
being restored by original
artist Gail Towers Nolan
2025
VIDEO DOCUMENTARY produced by the classes of
Historical Method and Philosophy & Video Productions 2, Maranatha Baptist
University, Watertown, WI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ZwLJRk1ok
Thanks, once
again, to my students and to my colleague, Tim Mielke, for getting another
quality documentary together.
My students
do the research and set up the interviews, and Tim's crew does the video work
to bring it all together.
Super-glad
to be able to promote our community's blessings this way, too.
Special
thanks to the members of First Brigade Band who were an enormous amount of help
to my students in this process-- couldn't have asked for better partners.
Michael Zwolanek
Cross References:
Chapter on Heritage Hall
[former First Congregational Church]
Website, First Brigade Band
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin