Ground broken on band shell project in Medford City Park

For many people of a certain age who grew up in the Medford area, a major part of their summertime memories are loading in the family car and driving to the city park to watch and listen to the performers on the old city band shell.

That old band shell has been gone for decades, but Sue Emmerich of the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce is hoping that the new band shell will help current and future generations of Medford area residents build memories.

Emmerich spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony held last week for the new band shell. The structure was made possible through community support and a major donation from Nestlé Pizza Company, which will have naming rights for the structure.

See BAND SHELL on page 16 “We thought it was a great way for us to leave a lasting legacy in the community which has supported Nestlé Pizza especially the Tombstone brand in the community since 1962,” said David Siverling the Human Resources Manager at Nestlé Pizza.

“Standing here, getting ready to break ground on our new bandshell brings back many nostalgic memories for me of my parents packing up our wood sided station wagon and heading down to this area to watch the Medford City Band play concerts. My favorite part of the evening was always when each song ended, instead of clapping we honked the horns on our cars to show appreciation,” Emmerich said. “What you have done is helped to give future generations the ability to experience not only music of all genres but arts in general. To educate our children and their children in the vast array of arts that are offered,” Emmerich said.

Emmerich praised Mayor Mike Wellner, members of the city council and city coordinator Joe Harris who served as project leader with getting to this point.

The new bandshell is expected to be completed by late fall and work is underway to plan for a regular performance schedule for the park for next summer.

In the future, the band shell will also be used as part of the Parkfest celebration and be available for use by community groups and events.