WAUKESHA, Wis. — It is a Thursday night tradition, grab a chair, bring a snack, and listen to the sounds of the Waukesha Civic Band. On any of those Thursday nights for the last 50 years, you can find Michael Poytinger keeping the beat.
“People enjoy it and that's what makes them come back, year after year after year,” said Poytinger.
He is the conductor of the Civic Band. He was just a 25 years old band teacher at Waukesha North High School when they invited him to play and never left.
“I started off playing first-row clarinets. And as I got older I played in the second row and as I got a little bit older I played in the third row, moved around in the section,” said Poytinger. “That's just how it happens.”
Michael isn't alone in staying with the band. The band's manager Glen Lunde is celebrating 43 years with the group.
"I started playing in 1981 and then I became manager in 1988,” Lunde said.
He considers the band like a second family.
"There is the camaraderie of being together for so long,” said Lunde.
And they say isn't just with the members.
"When I look out into the audience between numbers, I see faces that I have seen for decades,” said Poytinger.
They say it is what makes the whole night with the Waukesha Civic Band so special.
The concert season kicks off June 13 at 8 pm. The Waukesha Civic Band will be performing at the Les Paul Performance Center at Cutler Park, 321 Wisconsin Ave., every Thursday through the end of July, except for on the 4th of July.
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