PEORIA MAGAZINE July 2023

84 JULY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE George and Martha Graves play in the Peoria Municipal Band on Memorial Day, 2003 15 2023-24 | 15 TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON HEARTLAND FEST IVAL ORCHESTRA the morning. Eventually, the tide turned in favor of the band. Residents nodded and waved during those morning drills in what seemed to be a show of approval and pride. During Glover’s time, the band’s numbers jumped to nearly 150 students. Glover recalled an incident during his sophomore year when he was excited about being asked to dress for the varsity football game one night. “Mr. Graves showed up in the locker room and asked the head football coach, ‘Do you really need Glover? I am short a percussionist. I need a snare drummer.’ The coach said ‘no,’” Glover recalled. Graves reached out to parents of his students to gain more support. He start ed the Manual High School Band Parent Organization. The group spearheaded the fundraising money for trips to Disney World and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where the band marched in parades. “It took me a while, but I realized that I couldn’t do it all,” said Graves. A FAMILY AFFAIR Graves, now 72, shares his passion for music with his wife, Martha, and two adult children, Erica Hoerdemann, a nurse, and Darren, who works in Peoria’s Public Works Department. Martha also is a retired teacher and musician. The couple and their daughter are members of the Peoria Municipal Band, with which Graves has been involved for 50 years. His wife has him beat, at 54 years.

“We play all the time and our daughter plays all the time,” she said. Meanwhile, Graves is a charter member of the Prairie Wind Ensemble and performs with the Central Illinois Jazz Orchestra. In 1991, the Prairie Wind Ensemble toured Germany and Italy. In 2003, the Central Illinois Jazz Orchestra performed in Paris and also with the famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Sometimes he performs with the Peoria Symphony, Corn Stock theatre and Peoria Players. Graves somehow finds time to drive a bus for Peoria Charter Coach, but all in all, over many decades, his life has been devoted to performing and teaching. The Music Man, indeed.

Denise Jackson is a native South Sider and former television journalist who now represents District 1 on the Peoria City Council

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