About Us

The Gateway Concert Band
Director’s Report
Annual Meeting
October 13, 2025
Jack Prindle, Music Director

1. Since my last Director’s Report on Oct. 7, 2024, we have rehearsed forty times and performed eleven times. All of our rehearsals were held in the Great Hall of the Crescent Lodge #109 of the Free & Accepted Masons in Enumclaw. The first two performances were our winter concerts, entitled “Holiday Joy”, performed on December 1st and 2nd in the Community Auditorium at Enumclaw High School. I was concerned about having the concerts on “Thanksgiving Weekend” but I believe audience attendance and the amount donated were the highest we have ever had. There was no featured soloist in the concerts; Stephanie Magnusson directed one piece while I played percussion. The third performance was in the Enumclaw Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 7th. Our spring concerts, entitled “Fantastic Journey”, were performed in the Lunchroom/Commons at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Sunday, March 23rd, and Monday, March 24th. Audience numbers at our spring concerts are typically lower than December and June, but attendance wasn’t too bad, especially when you consider the change in location (from our usual venue at Enumclaw High School). We were joined by two guest artists, Chuck Buser on classical guitar and David Bozich on Contrabass Viol. Two of our assistant conductors, Stephanie Magnusson and Karen Ruckman, directed one piece each while I played percussion. The band performed for Memorial Weekend ceremonies in Enumclaw (on Sunday, May 25th) and at the Tahoma National Cemetery (on Monday, May 26th). The band was well “staffed” for both ceremonies. Because of the performance on Memorial Day, we did not rehearse on Monday, May 26th. The eighth and ninth performances were summer concerts, entitled “Name Those Tunes XXVI”, presented on Monday, June 16th at Rotary Centennial Park in Enumclaw, and on Monday, June 23rd at Creator Lutheran Church in Bonney Lake. Todd Frazier played a solo on French horn with the band and Stephanie Magnusson and Karen Ruckman each directed a piece with the band while I played percussion. Our tenth and eleventh concerts, entitled “Summer Sprites”, were presented at Rotary Centennial Park in Enumclaw on Monday, August 11th, and at Creator Lutheran Church in Bonney Lake on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Music played a solo on the alto saxophone with the band.

2. Because of absences, we delayed the recording of our “Summer Favorites of 2025” until September 22nd; instead, for two rehearsals, we explored 34 pieces for possible purchase and programming in the coming “year”. Todd Frazier recorded both our practice session of the Summer Favorites on September 15th and the recording session on September 22nd. He is preparing the master recordings and I will be producing the archival CDs and thumbdrives, which our members can order (for $10 each). The CDs will be ready for distribution soon.

3. Since my last Director’s Report, we have had six new members join the band (flute, clarinet, bari sax, trumpet, tuba, percussion); four players have formally left the band (flute, two clarinets, trumpet). Four players joined us for part of the year, then left (bassoon, bass clarinet, alto sax, French horn). Four “long-absent” players have been removed from the roster (flute, tenor sax, tuba, percussion), though they have not formally told us that they are leaving the band. Three players have changed instruments (clarinet to tenor sax, tenor sax to clarinet and trumpet to trombone). Two band members play with us just in the summer (alto sax and trombone). We could especially use more clarinet and percussion players.

4. Todd Frazier has generously agreed to record our concerts and Summer Favorites recording session and has “engineered” excellent recordings of each. I have prepared archival CDs of each recording, in clear CD cases with front and back covers listing the tracks and personnel, and with cover art suitable for each CD, for those band members who wished to purchase one or more (for $10 each). Thumbdrives with MP3 format versions of the recordings will also be offered for $10 each.

5. Music sponsorship has continued to be a effective fund-raising effort for the band. All 26 pieces available for sponsorship were sponsored this “year”. Assuming everyone paid, we should have collected $2,370 (more than the $2,000 budgeted for music purchase).

6. The band trailer is still safely stored in the yard of Sheri Bundy, for which we pay her $125 per month. A hinge on the rear gate broke and has been repaired and “zerks” for adding grease have been added to all of the hinges.

7. We continue to store our music and equipment in a heated storage unit at Enumclaw Self-Storage. In May, Brian Murray, Mark Thompson, and I re-organized and “tidied-up” the storage unit, removing unneeded items and installing shelves to use the space more efficiently.

8. Just last week, I delivered two clarinets, two trombones and a violin to the music department at Enumclaw Middle School, which had been donated to us as part of our “Music for All” project. A tenor ukulele and banjo which were donated to the band were sold to band members.

9. In early May, pursuant to the Governing Board’s approval, I arranged the purchase of a Majestic 3½ octave vibraphone, to replace the inadequate and broken vibraphone we have been using. I picked up the vibraphone from Ted Brown Music in Tacoma using the band trailer. It looks and sounds great and is a big improvement to our percussion equipment. Though I don’t expect it soon, our next (and final, for now) need is to replace our tubular chimes, a purchase which would require about $9,000.

10. On August 18th (the day of our August concert in Bonney Lake), a large truck struck the White River bridge between Enumclaw and Buckley, making it unusable. During its repair, the closure of the bridge has complicated the attendance of several of our members, particularly those living close to the bridge. For several weeks, one of our members was picking up those members in a large van from the “Enumclaw side” of the Foothills Trail footbridge. But mechanical problems prevented that member from continuing to act as a shuttle for those people and I used my large truck for one Monday until other arrangements could be (and have been) made. Members from Bonney Lake, Sumner and Puyallup are driving around, through Auburn, but it bears mentioning that the drive to rehearsal is taking extra time (a longer trip through heavier traffic).

11. As if that’s not bad enough, the Kummer Bridge over the Green River between Enumclaw and Black Diamond has closed for repairs too (after being reduced to traffic-light-controlled one lane access). Fortunately, alternate routes are not nearly so long, and it hasn’t seemed to be a serious problem, though our members from Black Diamond, Covington and Kent are dealing with a little more time-consuming and “traffic-clogged” drive too. Both bridges are projected to be repaired in several weeks.

12. I have selected themes for our concerts for the upcoming year, as follows: November 30, and December 1, 2025: “We Need a Little Christmas”March 22 and 23, 2026: “Come Dance with Us”June 15 and 22, 2026: “Name Those Tunes XXVII”August 10 and 17, 2026: “The Adventure Never Ends”

13. I want to acknowledge and thank several people who have performed vital jobs for the band: Susan Evans, Communications Director and Concert Coordinator; Jessie Sanchez, Social Media Coordinator; Leslie Frazier, Music Librarian; Rick Pabst, Trailer Coordinator; Stephanie Magnusson, Membership Coordinator; and Todd Frazier, who ably maintains our website. This fall, the final “job” we needed to staff, Trailer Transporters and Hall Unlockers/Lockers”, was taken over by four wonderful members. I really appreciate the help with setting up and taking down the chairs, stands and percussion for rehearsals and performances, though I am a little concerned that it seems to fall on the same four or five people most of the time. I also want to thank those who have served on our Governing Board, particularly Terry Tomt and Howard Webb, who complete their terms at the end of the month. Thanks also goes to our continuing Governing Board member: Jesse Sanchez.

14. Last May, I announced that I had been asked to temporarily direct the Renton City Concert Band from September until their December concert, while they are searching for a new director. Please be assured that my work there has not (and will not) interfere with my attention and performance as your Music Director. 15. In October of 2022, I announced my intention to retire from directing this group within the next three years. Part of my purpose was to motivate the band to figure out how to do the many things I had been doing for the band which were outside the contracted responsibilities of its Music Director. As promised at the Annual Meeting of the Governing Board last October, I observed a commitment to appraise them at least six months in advance of my intentions about retiring next November, after the completion of my current contract with the band. By the first of May, I gave my “official” declaration that I do not intend to retire after completing my current contract. But, of course, it is entirely up to the Governing Board, including the three new members who will be elected at this meeting, to decide if it wants to offer me a contract for another “year”.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for another fantastic year of marvelous music-making and great fun and friendship together.