The Gladiolas – 100 year Anniversary 2024!
Tradition continues, congratulations on the 100th Anniversary of the Roxbury Gladiolas band and for being inducted into The Breezy Point Historical Society's Hall of Fame on their 100th Annual Anniversary dinner.
In the historical words of Henry Meyer who at the age of 82, the sole survivor of the Gladiolas in 1989 wrote this account of the formation of the Gladiolas formative years pre- 1924 in our Pointer:
“I believe that an article about the Gladiolas band should ever be written without first paying tribute to Uncle Hen Helbrecht whose love and devotion for young people helped mold the lives of those of us who were lucky enough to be part of the fold. Uncle Hen and his Gladiola's Band (8 pieces) first marched in The Roxbury Mardi Gras parade in their blue and white clown outfits ( made by Aunt Minnie Helbrecht) . There were no sidewalks then .We had some boardwalks where the high tide came under the front row of bungalows mainly on the west end of the beach from Roxbury's dock to the creek. ( see prior maps in the 1920's of Roxbury) .The rest of the beach we marched in the sand. All travel to and from Roxbury was by the McAvoy or Lundy's ferries to Sheepshead Bay or Canarsie- remember there was no State Road then. What was later to be known as the Gladiolas was a family affair. Every evening during the summer, we would get together on Uncle Hen's front porch and play music and sing for a couple of hours. On Sunday night we would take the last ferry at 9:00 p.m. practicing on the upper deck until we reached Canarsie. In the summer of 1922, Tony Stehn (Joe Stehn's dad!) invited our group to a party at “the alley” -remember these were the days of group named friendship clans and Tony was a member of the “Early Birds”. Uncle Hen suggested that we leave all the instrument cases and march to the party. The next week Uncle Hen said “Let's be a marching band”and they practiced even in the winters in Uncle Hen's house in Woodhaven. By Labor Day in 1924, Uncle Hen decided that we should march in the Mardi Gras Parade, and the eight of us should wear white trousers. Surprisingly, Aunt Minnie brought out eight clown outfits and we went on to win the treasured Loving Cup!”
Uncle Hen (circa 1924) had a player piano and on the piano roll was “Our Director March”. He decided that would be an easy number to learn and hence “The Gladiolas March” became our theme song as Uncle Hen wrote lyrics to the beat. As years went by, other neighbors joined us and we continued to grow. In 1937 tragedy struck when Uncle Hen's son died by an unexpected rupture attack of his appendix and Uncle Hen never returned to Roxbury. Henry Meyer (the author of this recollection) and Gus Pabst decided we had to keep the band going and carry on the tradition of a yearly different costume in the parade. Rehearsals continued once a month with our members rotating member's home with a contribution of $1.00 to cover the cost of refreshments. The spirit is well entrenched and although members may have changed, the tradition continues.” In 1974 The Gladiolas celebrated their 50th Anniversary as a large amount of boys and girls are taking the place of past members. Gladiola's milestones of the past years as summarized by Jim Connelly.” In 1963 when Frank Radice joined the band, he brought with him major changes in The Music Book. He introduced more contemporary music and the Tin Pan Alley style. In 1966, Rosie Rodman became the first woman in the Gladiolas and women joined soon thereafter. An organization that lasted 100 years has many traditions and one of these was that every fifth year our Mardi Gras costume would be some sort of clown. During the in between years, the band members would meet and agree on a new costume. The Gladiolas rehearsals have also evolved over the years. From Sunday jam sessions on Henny Helbrecht's porch in the 20's, 30's, and 40's our weekly rehearsal meetings were held at The People's Association of Roxbury and the Catholic Club in the 60's and 70's. Now instead of winter homes in Woodhaven and Middle Village our members fly off to winter homes elsewhere around the country. Enthusiasm for the band has not waned. We keep musically in touch connecting though emails where we share sheet music and audio recordings. Referring to winter homes, we return to the origin of the name of the band. Uncle Hen's favorite flower was gladiolas which he grew in the backyard of his winter home in Woodhaven. There was always a bouquet of them on his dining room table in his bungalow.