Strike up the band: Former Alliance band director John Weitzel turns 99; alumni celebrate
ALLIANCE – Former Alliance High School band director John Weitzel turned 99 this week.
To celebrate, former students reunited in the school's band room and auditorium for a special photo shoot. They shipped the photos and other gifts to Weitzel's home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he received them Wednesday. His birthday was Thursday.
"In my eyes, he's one of the two most influential men in my life, he and my father," said former student John Hampu, a retired teacher, who hosts Spectrum Channel 1022 and has his own band.
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John Weitzel demanded excellence as a band director
From 1961 to 1978, Weitzel directed a standard of excellence at Alliance that saw members of the marching band travel to perform at NFL halftime shows, Disney and other events, according to the Alliance High School Alumni Foundation. The band also played for President Richard Nixon in 1972.
That's not all. The band recorded an album, "Days of Glory," in 1967-68.
"He demanded excellence from us and he got it," said Jennifer Crist who played clarinet from 1971 to 1973 for Weitzel. Like Hampu, Crist was one of nearly 100 former Weitzel students who attended the photo shoot. She works in the Alliance mayor's office.
"He taught us a lot of life lessons I think that stuck with us," Crist said. "Because of that, all of us who had him, we remember that and respect him so much for it."
The gift package also included a remastered copy of the "Days of Glory" album on compact disc, a video and a proclamation from Mayor Alan Andreani that declared Feb. 23, 2023, as John Weitzel Day in Alliance.
'Dad is doing remarkably well.'
His son, John Weitzel Jr., a professor at Western Michigan University, said the band alumni have been an important part of his father's life since retirement. He said many of them have stayed in contact with him.
"This year's gift is especially meaningful because of the large number of band alumni that got together to take the picture and visit with other alums," John Weitzel Jr. said. "Efforts like this mean the world to him, and to our whole family.
He said his father remains active in the Kalamazoo area enjoying music concerts and performing in community bands.
"Dad is doing remarkably well," John Weitzel Jr. said.
Hampu said a scholarship in Weitzel's name is awarded annually to a high school senior. To donate to or learn more about the Weitzel scholarship, contact the Alliance High School Alumni Foundation.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Alliance High band alumni celebrate John Weitzel's 99th birthday
