Dan Cotner can't quit making music

Dr. Dan Cotner is all about music -- right down to his socks.

Cotner, 85, has been playing instruments since he was in grade school and hasn't stopped since.

He first got involved with the Cape Girardeau municipal band when he was 17, under his uncle Louie Kassel and his uncle's cousin Elmore Kassel, who shared the role of band president at the time. A self-described "local yokel," Cotner has lived in Cape Girardeau his entire life, except for his time in dental school and the military. He graduated from Central High School, where he played in the school band.

Residents can still spot him playing trombone as well as the organ and keyboard in the band and at Westminster Presbyterian Church. He took piano lessons in the fourth grade across from the school; teachers let him out of class to attend. Cotner went on to play at church services around town and later met his wife playing the organ at the Brinkopf-Howell Funeral Home.

Dentistry is Cotner's other love. Since he graduated in 1949, Cotner has been seeing patients throughout Cape Girardeau and the world. He's participated in 19 dental volunteer trips to 11 countries. The first was in 1968, when he loaded up his family and some borrowed dental equipment for the drive to Guatemala. He taught the indigenous people to perform tooth extractions, which he considers his most worthwhile project ever.

Cotner never had a chance to play in a military band, but he came close while playing on board a hospital ship returning from the Philippines in 1946.

"If you're below deck, and you're seasick as the dickens, if you're playing, you get over it immediately," he said. "But the moment you stop playing, you get seasick again."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Dr. Dan Cotner is a long time member of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band.

Cotner also plays in the Jerry Ford Orchestra, Dixieland Band and Germand Band. He's been a member of the Cape Girardeau "muny band" since 1940 and is now the oldest and longest-serving member still on stage. About 50 people make up the band, which performs at 8 p.m. every Wednesday at the Capaha Park band shell.

Jackson has a municipal band of its own, which started in 1920, said band director Nick Leist. The band originally practiced in an old woodworking shop, using boards and sawhorses for benches. Since then, the band has seen eight conductors leading a group of about 50 players. The band practices for an hour each Tuesday and performs at 8 p.m. every Thursday at the band shell in Jackson City Park.

The Jackson band plays a variety of tunes each week, including an overture, some Broadway music and pop favorites.

"Just good old toe-tapping marches," Leist said.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com The Cape Girardeau Municipal Band performed Wednesday.

Both bands are made up of a range of age groups, from high school students to retirees, other band directors and community members. Cotner said it's the camaraderie, spontaneity and encouraging young band members that he most enjoys about playing in the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band.

Cotner is still practicing dentistry part time. And if his piano socks are any indication, residents can also expect to see him practicing his music in Capaha Park for some time to come.

"I don't see any reason to quit," Cotner said. "I sure don't. Not as long as I'm able to get there."

bschraum@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 210

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Jackson municipal band

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Cape Girardeau municipal band

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