The Minnesota State Fair opened Thursday, which means it’s the perfect time to explain my great-grandfather’s connection to what’s also known as “The Great Minnesota Get-Together.”  I have a few stories to tell, but I’ll use this post to focus on the the Bemidji Boys’ Band’s great fair adventure of 1922.

G. Oliver Riggs moved to Bemijdi in January 1919 after accepting an offer to direct the city’s municipal band and form a juvenile band.  The rest of his family – wife Islea, elder son Ronald and younger son Percy – stayed in Crookston until June, when Ronald graduated from Crookston High School.

By March of 1919, G. Oliver had recruited 111 boys to the band and had begun instruction.  Three years later, the Bemidji Boys’ Band was invited to perform at the Minnesota State Fair.

The 2010 Iowa State Fair concludes Sunday, and our family will have missed attending for yet another year.  As the kids have grown, it's become more difficult to find time in the summer schedule to make the trip from Northfield to Des Moines.
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It was horribly hot and humid on Sunday, the last day of the Vintage Band Festival, when Sebastian and I attended an afternoon concert by the 1st Brigade Band.  The weather seemed appropriate, since the 1st Brigade Band portrays an actual Wisconsin band that marched through the South with Gen. Sherman during the Civil War.
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I couldn't let the Vintage Band Festival pass without giving my great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, a chance to be part of the fun.  So we brought him along with us – in cardboard cutout form – to Saturday's vintage base ball game that was played down the hill from St. Olaf College's Old Main.

The Northfield Silver Stars played the Rochester Roosters in a game using original "base ball" rules.  The Independent Silver Band from Mt. Vernon, Illinois, provided music to entertain the crowd.

Day two of the Vintage Band Festival was filled with so many great moments, I can't really pick out a favorite.  I think what I enjoyed best was having the opportunity to hear such a variety of musical styles within a couple of hours, ranging from mariachi to Moravian polka to African American "trombone shout" music.

It was also fun to see so many people attending the concerts and spending time downtown.

Vintage Band Festival director Paul Niemisto can be extremely persuasive – so persuasive, in fact, that the weather couldn't resist his request for assistance on Thursday, the first day of the festival.  We had perfect conditions for the outdoor concerts scheduled throughout the day – it was sunny, and much less humid than what we've experienced lately.

One of the neat things about the Vintage Band Festival, which starts tomorrow in Northfield, is the opportunity it provides for cultural exchange.  We've having our own in-house cultural exchange as we host two 15-year-old flute players from the Helsinki Wind Band, a group of about 40 players ages 13 to 20.

The group arrived in Northfield yesterday evening after performing a concert at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis as part of National Night Out.
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