HOMER GILBERT STILL TOOTING

Given a choice at a young age, Homer Gilbert would have preferred playing with his neighborhood friends. Instead, his mother insisted on trumpet lessons and practice, practice, practice.

He musical effort paid off. Gilbert began playing with other musicians, and at age 14 joined the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band. Area residents who take their lawn chairs to Capaha Park on warm, summer Wednesday evenings still see Gilbert in the band where he has been a faithful members for 70 years.

There is little doubt that Gilbert learned to love the music his mother insisted that he learn. In the course of his long musical career, he has saved a treasure chest of memories and experiences. For band concert-goers, there is something steadying about seeing the familiar faces among the player, most of all Homer Gilbert and his shiny trumpet.