Named Scholarships have interesting backstories!
By CP Christopher Peppas
March is a month that is chock full of days that garner our attention. There’s the Ides of March, where we remember when the Roman Senate took the ousting of Julius Caesar into their own hands.
Then, on March 17th, it’s St. Padraig’s Day, marking the time when Ireland’s patron saint drove the snakes out of the auld sod.
In between them both, Sunday, March 16th, is the Jazz Unlimited Youth Scholarship Fund, where students audition and try to earn their keep and a chunk of the $11,000+ in monies to be given the best at performing JAZZ with a variety of instruments and vocals.
It is the “Core Mission” for the 54-year-old organization that fosters the next generation of players and supports venues who host the hallowed genre that is JAZZ.
This is made possible, year in and year out, because of contributions by our members and audiences at the monthly jams and the annual fall “Jazzstravaganza” at Mescalero’s Restaurant.
And, a good portion of the piggy bank is filled by the largesse of an eclectic collection of fans who want to see this organization prosper. It only made sense to shine a light on their donations and find out a little more about them.
The longest tenured of these gifts is the $1000 Douglas M. and Eleanor M. Gmoser award for the best reed player.
Doug played sax and clarinet as a youth and at North Division High School. During World War II, he was a member of the U.S. Army Band (a theme that will be repeated).
He came home and played in the house band at Mamie’s Grotto in Milwaukee’s Third Ward.
Upon retirement, Doug picked up the licorice stick again as a member of Six Friars and a Monk. They performed Dixieland Jazz on Cruises for many years, featuring long-time JU member and Chair Emeritus of the competition, Sharon Schmidt.
Sharon also judged for many years and she helped launch the career of many of the current performers around town by sharing the stage at The Red Mill (with Jeff Stoll on keys and Joe Zarcone on drums) at an open jam held on Wednesdays for just short of nine years. The list is too long to mention here, but you have undoubtedly been at several of their shows.
When Doug passed away, wife Elly collected funds in his memory from family and friends for the prize and then when she passed in 2011, the family has kept up the tradition ever since.
Next up is the Wayne “Zim” Zimmermann Showmanship Award. Zim also was in the U.S. Army Band, but he served during the Korean War.
In the 60s and 70s, Wayne played in a successful wedding band, Zim & His Saints, while working as a Teamster. He came back to music after his wife, Beverly, died and helped form Generation Gap, a band he fronted until his death at 85 in 2017.
Zim was the ultimate showman who wowed the crowds by playing two saxes at once in two keys, a real showstopper that got the tips flowing. He also did an impression of “Zimmy Durante” complete with hat and faux proboscis.
The scholarship was organized by bandmate Chris Peppas and continues with contributions from daughter Stacy Zimmermann Klotz, Mike Podoll and fans of Wayne.
Next up, there’s the Bill Seaman Award for the best horn player. Bill is a horn player of renown around town who cut his teeth at the Tuesday Transfer Pizza Jazz Jam that was led by the late Neal Chandek on keys.
And for fourteen years and counting, Bill plays “live Taps” at the funerals of every veteran who requests it as a member of Tapsforveterans.org. “Besides the fact that (I like) watching young people enjoy music so much, my goal is to touch as many as possible and have them fill in for me when I pass,” Bill said in a recent interview.
Bill hopes to get a bill passed that would give kids extra credit for playing Taps. He has an extensive collection of vintage bugles and horns, some that go far back as the Civil War.
Finally, there are two, $250 Youth Scholarships in the name of Theodore “Ted” Peppas. Ted played the violin growing up, sang on the church choirs at St. Vincent de Paul in Milwaukee and Our Lady of Lourdes in Sun City West, Arizona, after retirement.
Ted is most known for playing the harmonica, he was a master of the Hohner Chromatic, and the ocarina or sweet potato. Smart move as there is no need for a roadie. Ted performed at nursing homes into his late 80s as a member of the five-piece Harmonica Saints (a recurring theme) before his death in 2011.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CP Christopher Peppas is a Journalist, Jazz Vocalist and Conga Player in the Greater Milwaukee Area and Correspondent at Large for the Jazz Unlimited Newsletter and Content Manager/Chief Contributor to CreativProse, Ltd. (sic), Social Media, Brand Management.