| Longtime Chaffey High School band director Jack Mercer, 77,
fell in love with performing in the first grade.
He was playing the coronet for a PTA function. He got up on stage to
play and, to his horror, no sound came out of the instrument.
"I was absolutely scared to death," he said.
Eventually he got the instrument to work and finished his performance.
The audience clapped heartily for the young player.
Mercer said he has been addicted to performing, and applause, ever
since.
Mercer moved to Ontario in 1958 and has been involved with leading high
school and community bands for the last 43 years. The City Council will
honor Mercer's service to the community on Wednesday by naming the
bandstand at C Street and Euclid Avenue after him.
Ontario Mayor Gary Ovitt is expected to dedicate the R. Jack Mercer
Ontario Community Bandstand about 11 a.m., just following the July Fourth
parade.
The charismatic Mercer said he was shocked when he learned about the
honor.
"It makes you feel very humble and, I guess, a little
embarrassed," he said.
Mercer pursued a formal education in music at Northwestern University,
earning bachelor's and master's degrees in the field.
He began his band directing career in Three Oaks, Mich., and led bands
in Illinois and Iowa before moving to Southern California so his wife,
Jane, could pursue a doctorate in sociology at USC.
Mercer, who had been a band director in the small town of Creston,
Iowa, was amazed by the size of Chaffey High School.
"I was awed by the Chaffey campus because on that campus there
were more kids than in my home in Creston," he said.
He began his career at Chaffey in July 1958. By October of that year,
the marching band performed in the San Bernardino County Fair, winning the
sweepstakes award.
For 27 years, Mercer led the students to success in numerous
competitions. His young musicians also performed during half time at the
Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Charges football games.
Mercer directed the Chaffey band as it gave an award-winning
performance during the half time of the 1966 NFL Pro Bowl in the Los
Angeles Coliseum. Band members from throughout the district played again
at the game in 1968.
He started the Tournament of Bands in 1962, an annual competition that
is still being held.
In addition to his practical experience, Mercer has written two books
about how to successfully lead student bands.
He retired from Chaffey in 1986, but did not stay out of work long.
Forty-two alumni came to Mercer and asked him about starting a
community-based group.
"They wanted some relaxation," he said.
The Chaffey-Ontario Community Show Band, which has just wrapped up its
15th season, regularly attracts 800 to 1,000 people to its monthly
concerts at Gardiner Spring Auditorium.
Upland resident Miriam Keith, 51, played for Mercer in high school and
now performs for the community band.
She has seen Mercer change over the years.
"In high school, Jack was a lot more tense," she said.
Keith enjoys Mercer's emphasis on encouraging his players.
"Even if it was a bad concert, he's always got something good to
say," she said.
Former Chaffey band member Rob Branson, 51, spearheaded the effort to
get the bandstand named after Mercer.
Branson said Mercer should be honored for his years of dedicated
efforts.
"We need something for Jack (because) he's done so much for the
community," he said. "He put the Chaffey High School band on the
map."
Branson approached the City Council with the proposal. The council
approved the name change at its May 1 meeting.
Councilman Jerry DuBois, 52, never performed for Mercer, but he did
play high school football with Mercer's sons, Ron and Ray..
"Jack's like a dad to me," he said.
So when DuBois was planning with the Kiwanis Club of Ontario several
years ago to build a new bandstand for the city, DuBois immediately
thought of Mercer as the perfect person to help design the structure.
Naming the city landmark after Mercer was also a natural move, DuBois
said.
"When you think of the bandstand, you think of him."
Dave Milbrandt can be reached by e-mail at d_milbrandt@dailybulletin.com
or by phone at (909) 483-9332. |
