BIWABIK—It’s tradition every 4th of July parade in Biwabik for the City Band to play the song of a school long since gone. As band member Mike Smith said in an email, “I think I can speak for the other band members that we are fighting to keep the soul of Biwabik alive in our own little way. We really are trying to conserve a part of our past that we aren’t ready to give up on just yet.”
Members of the band get special recognition this year as grand marshals of the 2024 Biwabik Calithumpian parade.
Smith said he hasn’t “watched a Calithumpian parade since I was a kid. Ever since I learned to play the trombone and marched in the band, I knew where I was going to be the night of the 4th and I know the other members feel same way.”
The band is a long-standing Biwabik tradition that dates back many decades. Smith said the current band must have started “after the Biwabik High School closed (circa 1988) and we lost our ‘hometown’ high school marching band.” Some members “have been there from the inception of the Biwabik City Band,” Smith said. “Bob Karish (Mr. Biwabik) has been the driving force behind keeping the band going all these years. Without him, I’m sure The Band would have faded away a long time ago. Those of us that are still playing do it because of Bob. Bob turns 90 this year, and I hope we can see a resurgence again this year that will help sustain the band for a number of years to come. “If not, I’m afraid The Band may fade away like a lot of the other traditions we have enjoyed over the years. Some of the stalwarts that show up every year are Karish, Denny Hogan (Mr. Reliable), Rolf Widstrand (the Biwabik High School Band director), Chris Andreachi (the youngster of the bunch), David Setnicker, Fran Strukel, Steve Jarvi, George Lampe, and myself. The years have taken their toll, and some are no longer physically able to walk the parade route, but their spirit lives on in us.”
Smith said, “There is a standing invitation/order that The Band is to meet on the same street corner at the start of the parade about a half hour before the parade. That gives us enough time to do our annual practice (once through the ‘Minnesota Rouser’). For some of us this is the only time we play our instruments all year. In recent years as numbers have dwindled our biggest challenge is how we are going to line up and make the band ‘appear’ robust. We used to have 10 to 13 rows of 5 members, now we only have 12 members. So, we spread ourselves out and do the best we can.”
Mesabi East has been a staple of the Calithumpian since the schools (Biwabik and Aurora-Hoyt Lakes) consolidated. Smith said, “I’m sure in those days Biwabik was like every other community on the Iron Range, and residents were very loyal and proud of what they had built. It was easy to recruit members back in those days because my generation was one of the last true Biwabik High School classes, and it just didn’t feel right not having a marching band from Biwabik. Maybe because we were a lot younger then too. Today new residents don’t have the same connection to town as those of us that grew up and went to school there. It’s sad when you lose your school because I think part of the town’s soul is lost then too.”
Smith said, “Our numbers are dwindling every year. Back when we started, our numbers were probably five to six times the number we have today. Biwabik kids that went to Mesabi East were part of the city band back then. Some would march with Mesabi East, then run back to the start of the parade, change out of their Mesabi East uniforms, and march through again with us.
“The band was strong and vibrant and it was like going to a reunion every year. The Band continued to flourish as those of us with kids would incorporate them into the band as they grew up and started to play an instrument during their school days. Unfortunately, and to no one’s surprise, all of those members disappeared once they grew up and moved away. Once again, they didn’t have the connection to Biwabik like we did.”
Smith added, “There are pockets of Biwabik residents that take up their same position along main street every year. Over the years we know where they will be and make sure that we are playing when we hit those spots. We used to play two different songs in the heyday (‘The Billboard March’ and ‘Minnesota Rouser’), but we gave up on the Billboard when our numbers started falling. It is a great song, but you really need a full complement of brass and woodwind instruments to make it sound great. Now we only play the ‘Minnesota Rouser’ which was the old Biwabik High School fight song. The old Biwabik High School graduates still call out the fight song as we go by.”
Smith gave “a shout out to Kim Berg and her group for their tireless commitment to making the 4th of July a special and fun place to be every year. I know they don’t get enough credit for all of their efforts, but they deserve our appreciation for all the work they do.”
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