SUN CITY – Do you remember when you were growing up being told to put your toys away? Did you have an actual toy box or some other container where the toys went at the end of the day?
Today the toys are different, and that toy box is called a “man cave” or a “she shed,” or it’s a cabinet in the garage. No matter what, the need for a toy box still exists today.
Woodchucks build Sun City Concert Band “toy box” for percussion instruments. (Photo by David Goode/Sun Day)
In 2011, the Sun City Concert Band had a need for a percussion section toy box. Somewhere to store drum sticks, the cow bell, finger cymbals, wood blocks, triangles, tambourines, and music. Dave Macaulay, the band’s Manager and Jerry McClellan, a percussionist with the band, researched commercially available units for the band’s needs and discovered that those units cost in the $1,600 range. Those costs were well beyond what the band was able to pay.
McClellan and Ron Ghilardi, the husband of a band member and a retired engineer and draftsman, put together some basic drawings and contacted the Woodchucks for assistance. Eventually John Sterling of the Woodchucks became the lead on the project. Sterling coordinated all of the work and did much of it himself. The Concert Band covered the costs for the materials.
As McClellan tells it, “materials came together and work proceeded in Millgrove from February to April, 2012. The plan was to display the finished cabinet at the Concert Band’s May 2012 concerts.”
John Sterling was recognized at those May concerts for his leadership and commitment to the project. The Band also made a donation to the Woodchucks in appreciation for their dedication to the project.
