OJAI : Park Band Concerts Get Toes Tapping

Two dozen volunteer musicians from Ojai, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura and Moorpark successfully auditioned in January to fulfill the dream of Ojai homemaker Sara Beeby.

Beeby and her husband, Robert, a water engineer that she has roped into filling helium balloons, were enchanted by a 46-year history of summer band concerts in a small town on Cape Cod, Mass.

So Sara Beeby decided to start the tradition in Ojai. After selecting the musicians, who range in age from their early 20s to mid-70s, Beeby successfully lobbied the Ojai City Council to change the Libbey Park bandstand from a “drab brown” to a brighter, cream color.

She got a $200 grant from the City Council, and the two Ojai Rotary clubs each donated $250. After the musicians made their own signs advertising their first concert in July, 20 people showed up with lawn chairs or blankets.

Four weeks later, the audience was estimated at 400 people tapping their toes to marching songs and singing along to medleys from movies and musicals.

Excited children eagerly awaited “76 Trombones” so they could march around the lamp-lit bandstand with their brightly colored balloons.

“This is what a small town is all about,” said Elaine Meigs of Huntington Beach. Her husband, Bob, said they brought their daughter, Julie, 5, and son, Jeffrey, 2, last week because their campground was “full of bugs and bikers.”

“I kept looking around for the cameras,” said Ginny Camarillo of Oxnard, an analyst in the Ventura County administrator’s office. “It felt like a movie set.”

Mayor James Loebl said he could not remember when musicians had last regularly used the bandstand. “I think this is wonderful,” the mayor said.

Nordhoff High School Band Director Bill Wagner, 30, who’s heading the volunteer ensemble, agreed. “It’s been a wonderful experience for me to get an older group of musicians who are more experienced and dedicated.”

Beeby said she has two dreams for next year: for couples to dance to a Strauss waltz and for Ojai jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson to join the fun. The 8 p.m. Wednesday concerts will continue through Aug. 28 in downtown Ojai.