By Tracie Bennitt
Cripple Creek Victor School has had an absence of instrumental music for a number of years. The CCV School Board Vice President and Music Teacher Rob Smith had an idea about how to bring the music back to the Gold Camp. They worked as a team to create an event and bring it to life.
Working to reconstitute their music program, a fundraising idea was born. The result is Autumn Leaves benefit concert, a fundraising effort to bring music back to the Cripple Creek-Victor School District. September 27, Swing Factory will be playing at the Butte Theater to raise money for reconstituting the music department and providing instruments for the school district. The event will kick off at 7 pm. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids 17 and under and are available at www.buttetheater.com.
There were some instruments in their inventory that needed repair and Meeker Music stepped up to assess those and repair them. Multiple donations have come in from community members to help provide instruments for the kids and build up the inventory including flutes, violins and everything in between. A gorgeous organ was donated by Cripple Creek Baptist Church and moved to the school with the help of CC Fire Department. A community effort, Two Mile High Club and Mark Green have assisted with flyers and banners for the event.
There are currently more students than instruments available in the program. Sixteen students will be assisting with the concert with set up, eating some pizza at Aspen Mine Center prior to the show, and then participating in an interactive program with director Ron Stinson during the evening. Multiple community members have been assisting with the logistics of the event as well as providing tickets for community members to attend the concert. Sponsors include the City of Victor, the City of Cripple Creek, and Ground Floor Holdings.
Over 25 years ago the City of Woodland Park asked Woodland Park Wind Symphony conductor Craig Harms if he could provide a band for a local dance. Finding a friend with arrangements for dancing, the “Swing Factory” was born. Players from Teller County and Colorado Springs were attracted to join the talented artists of Swing Factory. Currently the band is an eighteen-piece group including a vocalist playing jazz, rock and swing music.
Current director Ron Stinson started out as a trumpet player in the band. Earlier this year he took over the reins from Craig as director of the Swing Factory. “We actually went to the same college,” Harms recalls. “He’s a trumpet player, so he “gets” the music.” As a firm supporter of music in the county, Wind Symphony and Swing Factory have provided music in the region, including fundraisers for local groups. “Swing Factory is honored to be raising funds for the newly established music program at the school,” stated Stinson.
