Abilene Community Band Makes History at Heritage Square

Abilene Community Band Fall Concert Is at AHS

The Abilene Community Band will play its first concert at the newly restored Abilene Heritage Square on Tuesday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m. And when I heard the news, it came from someone who made it especially meaningful to me: my former band director, Joe Stephens.

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Mr. Stephens Could Hardly Contain His Excitement

I ran into Mr. Stephens while having dinner at Catfish Corner. He was stoked to tell me that the band he helped start 50 years ago would perform its fall concert in Owen Hall, the restored auditorium inside the building many of us remember as Lincoln Middle School.

I’ve called him Mr. Stephens since my school band days, and I don’t intend to stop now. Seeing how excited he was about this concert reminded me why I’ve enjoyed following the Abilene Community Band and broadcasting from its performances over the years.

Stephens has been with the band since its beginning in 1976 and has directed it since 1979. This year marks 50 years of music for a group that continues to bring Abilene musicians and audiences together.

An Old School Finds a New Voice

The concert’s setting has a story of its own. The building opened as Abilene High School in 1924. It later became Lincoln Junior High and then Lincoln Middle School before closing in 2007. Today, it has a new life as Abilene Heritage Square.

I love that the initials AHS once meant Abilene High School and can now mean Abilene Heritage Square. Generations of students knew those halls. On October 13, music will fill the auditorium again.

Come Hear the Band

The Abilene Community Band’s fall concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 13, in Owen Hall at Abilene Heritage Square. Admission is free, and donations to support the band are welcome.

If you went to school in that building, this is a chance to come back and see it anew. For me, it’s a chance to watch Mr. Stephens raise his baton in a place full of Abilene memories.