George Wilson looks over one of the cabinets that he will refurbish.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
SCOTTVILLE — The public will have an opportunity to purchase bricks from the old Scottville High School, along with cabinets from the building, during the Scottville Clown Band concert on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Proceeds from the sale will be donated by the Clown Band to the Mason County Central band program.
Many of the bricks will be removed from the 138-year-old building during its demolition, which is scheduled to take place this month.
Three or four cabinets will be also be sold via auction during the concert. The cabinets were acquired Friday by George C. Wilson, a street leader and board member of the Clown Band. Wilson plans to restore the items over the next couple of months and have them ready for auction to benefit the band.
Read related story about the status of the building’s demoltion here.
“The cabinets most likely come from the early part of the 20th century,” Wilson said. “The idea is that if we salvage them, they won’t go to the landfill. I rehab antique furniture and will restore these items, and we hope to have them up for auction at the Scottville Clown Band concert in August. It will be a chance for old Spartans like myself, who went to school in this building, to take a piece home and remember what an integral part of the community this building was.”
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The school and its music program have a long symbiotic history with the Clown Band. In 1947, following a six-year hiatus because of World War II, the town band — which started about 1903 — was restarted by Raymond Schulte, a second-generation member. Schulte, a downtown Scottville merchant and grandson of one of the town’s pioneers, formally named the group the Scottville Clown Band. With the help of Scottville school superintendent Arnold O. Carlson, Schulte recruited several high school musicians. For many years, the band held its Tuesday night practices at the school, a tradition that continues today at MCC Middle School.
Carlson also recruited an orphan, George F. Wilson — George C.’s father — to be the street leader. Known as “Big George,” he led the Clown Band from his junior year of high school in 1947 until his death in 2012.
George C. Wilson and his siblings also attended school in the building when it served as a junior high school.
The Clown Band’s Aug. 18 performance at the Scottville Clown Band Shell will be the first time the band has performed at its home venue in two years. Traditionally, the band performs a patriotic concert at the shell on the Tuesday before Independence Day. However, Scottville Downtown Development Authority officials said the renovated park’s grass would not be ready by late June. Instead, the Clown Band will perform its patriotic concert at Ludington Waterfront Park on Tuesday, June 30, beginning at 7 p.m.
The MCC Jazz Band is tentatively scheduled to open for the Clown Band on Aug. 18 beginning at 6 p.m.
The Mason County Land Bank, which owns the former school building, has agreed to provide the bricks and other items to the Clown Band. The band will sell them and donate the proceeds to the MCC band program. Bricks will be sold for $10 each; other items will be auctioned.
The Scottville Clown Band is a nonprofit charitable organization with a mission to support youth music education. This year, the band is expected to provide $20,000 in scholarships through its Raymond Schulte Memorial Student Services Fund for middle and high school students to attend summer music camps. Additionally, the band provides about $5,000 annually in grants to public education programs in Mason, Lake, Oceana and Manistee counties and awards a $1,000 Robert Pinkerton Memorial Scholarship to a West Shore Community College performing arts student.
Donations to the band’s student services program can be sent to Scottville Clown Band, P.O. Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454.
The Clown Band is also raising funds to replace its current bus. Donations for that effort can be sent to the Community Foundation for Mason County, 119 S. Rath Ave., Ludington, MI 49431, or made online at mason-foundation.org.
Read related story about the status of the building’s demoltion here.
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