Friday night in Medina –  a study in contrasts.

In the Victorian-style gazebo on the Square, the Medina Community Band  plays tunes that float sweetly in the summer air.  It is serene and nostalgic –  pure, old fashioned Americana straight out of  “The Music Man.”

Off the Square, exactly one block west –  the roar of Harley-Davidsons and the thump of hard rock produce their own summer ambiance.  That’s right, Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore — you’re in a street fair, elbow-to- elbow with hundreds of music fans packed into several adjoining parking lots located behind commercial buildings. It’s more gritty than pretty and the smell of barbecue permeates the air.

The bikers arrive  in droves and park  in specially reserved areas,  so that West Liberty Street resembles an  endless Harley-Davidson showroom. With their black leather gear, tattoos and bandanas, they provide color and swagger — as well as the element of cool. But the bikers are actually in the minority here.  The bulk of the crowd is  made up of your friends and neighbors — young and middle-aged suburbia out to drink beer, eat barbecue, and  listen to really great music.

The Rally in the Alley is a free outdoor concert that runs every Friday night, from Memorial Day weekend and until Labor Day Weekend when it ends with what is labeled A Huge Blowout.  Beer, wine, spirits and food are available for purchase, and a portion of those proceeds go to a different Medina charity every week. ( This evening it is the Forgotten Animal Shelter).

The Rally opens at 4:30 P.M. and the opening band takes the stage at 5:30.  (This afternoon it was The Woovs.) This evening, Majestic, a Journey Tribute band plays to an enthusiastic crowd.

The moving force behind this weekly summer event is Gary Quesada, owner of the Main Street Cafe on 17 Public Square –  chef extraordinaire and a die-hard fan of both rock music and Harley-Davidson bikes. Within a few short years, he has turned Rally in the Alley into a major event — a sort of Medina Band Concert for the new Millennium.

Here is a list of bands that will be playing at Rally in the Alley in the coming weeks:

June 24: Wounded Hand (Stone Temple Pilots Tribute). Opener: Aphrodite’s Hero (Classic Rock).

July 2: Carlos Jones (Bob Marley Tribute). Opener: Prayer Warriors

July 9: Mojo (Doors Tribute). Opener: Moon Age (Classic Rock)

July 16: One (A Celebration of U2). Opener: Blue Fish Crisis.

July 30: Vicious Cycle (Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute). Opener: Big House (Allman Brothers Tribute.)

August 6: Majestic (Journey Tribute). Opener: The Juke Hounds (Chicago Blues).

August 13: Stone Pony (Bruce Springsteen Cover). Opener: Pilgrim.

August 20: Mr. Speed (Kiss Tribute). Opener: Blue Lunch.

August 27: Rumors (Fleetwood Mac Tribute). Opener: The Woovs.

September 3: Vinyl Approach. Opener: The Knock-offs.

September 4: Evil Ways (Santana Tribute). Opener: The Four Horsemen (Metallica Tribute).

September 5: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd Tribute).

1868 Band Concert on the Square

This year marks 151 years since the Medina Community Band has played on the village square on balmy summer nights.  In that first year, 1859, both the village and the Republic were relatively young.  Since then, generations have sat on the same three acre patch of grass, through the Civil War and two world wars, and through various economic and social upheavals. And the band played on.

In the early years, the band consisted of 15 men playing cornets.  This year, the Medina Community Band consists of 81 musicians.  Mostly amateurs, the group  includes retired teachers, postal workers, dentists, physicians and several students. They now play a much wider variety of instruments — flute, clarinet, oboe, sax , tuba and euphonium.

These outdoor concerts performed by the town band are a part of a great musical tradition in America.  Meredith Wilson’s  musical, “The Music Man” illustrates the band’s importance to small town life.  At the turn of the nineteenth century, John Philip Sousa, America’s foremost band director and composer of stirring marches, thrilled audiences in outdoor concerts in Philadelphia. He was a powerful influence in the community band movement throughout his career.

But then, in most places, the tradition ended.  Why? Radio?  Talking pictures? The Victrola? Or perhaps the Great Depression and  the two world wars?

At any rate, in Medina the tradition lives on.  Led by the splendidly flamboyant Band Director, Marcus Neiman, (in his 38th year on the job) the concert begins with the entire audience rising to sing the National Anthem, followed by some light classical music, including a violin solo (“Polonaise Brilliante, Op. 4) ; the theme from “Dragnet”, a 1950’s era television program; a Sing-a-Long (“On the Mall”); and several marches.  The concert concludes with Sousa’s stirring “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

In the meantime, another part of the tradition includes an ice cream social.  In the northeast corner of the Square (on a concrete slab where the band concerts were held before the gazebo was erected in 1975), the Seville Presbyterian Church offers ice cream and freshly baked pies.

So, if you’re searching for a vanishing America — that ephemeral place of small towns, cozy communities, Victorian buildings, American flags and church socials– just stop by on any Friday night.  It’s still here and it’s the real thing.

Summer Series Dates:

June 18, 25

July 4, 9, 16, 23, 30.

8:30 P.M.

The Medina Farmers’ Market began a few years ago with just a few tents huddled in the southwest corner of the square and offered a very limited selection –  tomatoes and perhaps some home-made baked goods — one Saturday a month.  Today, the first day of the season,  all the paths crisscrossing the park are lined with tents and the crowds are out in force.

And why is the community here is such large numbers?  For all the usually cited reasons, of course: Because people are increasingly drawn to healthier eating, because organically grown food tastes better, and because locally grown produce does not have to travel very far to get to the dinner table and the difference in mileage saves fossil fuels.

It is also the way people have shopped for thousands of years — in the agoras of ancient Greece, the souks of the Middle East and the village squares of Medieval Europe. It is still the way people shop in villages and town squares throughout the world.

The small family farms are well represented here and some of their names reveal their philosophies — Earth Song Discovery Farm (Holistic living in harmony with the earth) and  Soleil Farm (biological, poison free) And then, there are the plain, old-fashioned names like Muddy Fork Farm and Richardson’s Farm (six generations)who continue to grow things  the plain, old-fashioned way.

It is, of course, too soon in the season for any great profusion of produce to be available –  except for some tender looking green onions and parsley, and the strawberries. But it is flower season and the blooms are everywhere — huge, gorgeous and cheap.

However, produce isn’t the only reason to come. There is a very extensive variety of products available, from the useful to the quirky –  freshly baked, whole grain breads, local cheeses,  humanely raised beef, trail mix, brooms and hand-made handbags.  The bakers, jelly-makers and confectioners cheerfully offer samples and take orders.  The pies look luscious and, if you’re feeling especially community-minded, you can purchase large, white chocolate letters that spell Medina.

For the adored, four-legged family member — and there are plenty of those straining at their leashes –  the Barkin’ Biscuit Gourmet Bakery makes elegant-looking dog biscuits called “Bone-jour”.

Shopping. Sampling. People-watching. Or all of the above. Not a bad way to spend a summer morning.

Public Square Park 1913

Public Square circa 1900

Photos courtesy of the Medina Community Design Committee

New Mayor Dennis Hanwell, and supporters Jim Bigam and Janie Parish celebrate the beginning of a new administration at Rustic Hills Country Club.

Dennis Hanwell, who won the mayoral election by an 80% margin this fall, was sworn into office Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The swearing-in ceremony at Medina City Hall was followed by a festive reception at Rustic Hills Country Club. Over one hundred Medinians attended the reception, despite the snowy conditions.

The Gazebo, Photo by Jeffery Heaton, Medina High School, Class of 1995.

The Gazebo, Photo by Jeffery Heaton, Medina High School, Class of 1995.

We wish you all the best in 2010, Medina! May your hopes and dreams become reality this year.