The Peter Jonas Community Band performed their first concert back in 2001. Since that time they’ve continually blessed Munising and the surrounding areas with their concert band style performances.

“Historically communities in the U.P. had a community band, but that had kind of waned,” band president Chris Case said. “Folks talked about it and said it would be cool (to start one up). We contacted Peter Jonas and he kind of took over and led the group.” Jonas was a professional musician in the community, and helped their band of about 18 charter members get started.

“Most of the folks that were in the band hadn’t played any instruments since they were in high school, it had been 30 years since many of them had played anything,” Case said. “Peter heard us play and we could see his face drop. He could write music, so the next week he put some pieces together for us. We started off basically with middle school music and just kind of went from there.”

According to Case, the band, called the Alger Community Band at the time, attempted about two concerts per year, as well as an appearance in the annual Fourth of July parade as well as performing at Veterans or Memorial Day events.

During the early months of 2010 Jonas’ health prevented him from leading the band. With his absence they reached out to Northern Michigan University for help, and Lance Dubey, a student at the school, entered the picture.

“He jumped at the opportunity,” Case said. “He was pretty aggressive at the level of music we played and he would also bring over fellow students from Northern that got extra credit if they performed with groups, so at that time we were up to 38 or sometimes 40 members in the band and we sounded pretty good. We had regular concerts and we were well known then because we were pretty darn good.”

After Dubey moved on the band went back to their original roots, having about 18 members and playing local concerts. They renamed themselves the Peter Jonas Community Band to honor Jonas after he passed away, and continue to be a staple in Munising to this day.

“We are in our 24th year, that’s pretty remarkable,” Case said.

The band still practices once a week; every Wednesday 5:30 to about 7 p.m. at Bayshore Park in Munising through the month of August. The public is not only invited, but encouraged to attend to take a listen, or even join in.

“We always say we are looking for more players, we get together in a circle and watch each other play,” Case said. “It is just community members playing music together and having fun. We have regulars that come by all the time and listen and of course the tourists stop by for a couple numbers and watch.”

Case added that those wishing to join don’t need to meet a particular skill level. Some band members may even have an extra instrument to lend, in case they don’t have one of their own.

“We like people to be committed to the group, but if they can’t make it to rehearse that is just the way it goes,” he said. “We try to be accommodating, it is just basically to have fun. The music we play isn’t difficult and the people that join us seem to fit in right away, and if they can’t hit all of the notes, that’s fine too.”

For more information, visit the Peter Jones Community Band’s Facebook page.