The Lake Mills City Band can trace its roots to the 1840’s. In an article in the August 13, 1936 Special Centennial Supplement of the Lake Mills Leader, there appears an account of the first brass band formed in Lake Mills in 1844, four years before Wisconsin became a state. 

The article indicated Lake Mills had “the first brass band in the whole southern part of Wisconsin territory.” The band was in demand and apparently disbanded in 1849 “when the California gold fever dispersed its members.”

Shortly after that another community band formed, the group performed with intermittent periods of breaks during times of war such as the Civil War. The earliest photograph of the band I could find dates from 1879. Based on a History of Lake Mills written by Paul Gericke in 1936, in the 1880’s the Commons Park was still fenced in to keep cows, pigs and horses from ruining the trees and grass. The grass was sold for hay by the city. Within about 10-15 years the park was transformed to what is in the photograph below. Mr. Gericke describes the the city park in 1936. “In the center of our park is a concrete band stand surrounded by well trimmed shrubs. Every Saturday evening in the summer a band of 35 entertains hundreds of persons - these Saturday evening crowds are quite spectacular.”... “Toward the west center of the park there is a mound on which has been placed a Civil War cannon...” The cannon was removed during a scrap metal drive early in World War II.

In 1933 a young man fresh out of college was hired to lead the City Band. Franklin Else began what would be a 37 year career directing the city band. The City Band Concerts as mentioned above originally took place on Saturday evenings. It is my understanding that Saturday was the day the stores stayed open into the evening and larger numbers of people would come to town. By the 1950’s the night stores stayed open had switched to Fridays and so did the City Band concerts. The picture of Franklin Else directing the band above took place on one of those Friday night concerts in 1992 in which he was recognized and honored for his 37 years directing the band. The next summer Mr. Else died in an airplane crash while returning from a fishing trip and the following year the band stand in the park was dedicated to his memory. 

The community band movement is alive and well in Wisconsin and around the country. The Lake Mills City Band joined with other community bands in 1992, 1993 and 1994 in an event organized by the Oregon Community Band. In 1994 the Community Band Festival was held at the capitol in Madison. The Lake Mills City Band is continuing this tradition of working cooperatively with other community bands by annually presenting a joint concert with the Palmyra Community Band.

Today the concerts take place on 6 different Wednesday nights throughout the summer. The City Band has adjusted to the times just as the band has done in the past. The concerts now take place on days in which a growing and active Farmers’ Market takes place in the Commons Park. The City Band is healthy, well run by an effective governing board and continues a tradition of community band music that began in 1844. The summer of 2019 was a significant year in at least two respects. It marked the 25th anniversary of the original dedication of the band stand to the memory of Franklin Else and it marked the 175th anniversary of the beginning of community band music in Lake Mills. The one element that needs to be stressed in this history of the City Band is that the health and success of community music over the last 175 years would not have been possible without the dedication and effort of the many, many musicians who have stepped up and made the success of the City Band a priority. I had the opportunity of directing the Lake Mills City Band in the past and after a 25 year hiatus I have the privilege of serving as the director again since the fall of 2018. My experience has been very positive and I believe the current band is just as dedicated to the success of community band as members of the band have ever been. In fact I would go so far as to say the dedication of the current musicians may very well exceed that of past bands. That speaks well to the dedication of the musicians and the leadership of the organization. The summer of 2023 marks the 92nd consecutive season of summer music. This was possible only because the band members came together to practice in the COVID summer of 2020...socially distanced, outdoors, with bell covers.  As a result we were able to play two concerts that season, keeping our string of consecutive years going.

My hope is that you community members realize the jewel you have in this organization, the proud heritage we have as a community dating back to 1844 and that you express that realization by your attendance at our concerts and support of the City Band.

David Anderson

Lake Mills City Band Director