Snohomish celebrates with a side of ‘Kraut

Published 10:05 pm Friday, March 6, 2009

SNOHOMISH — The city is celebrating its 150th birthday today, and it wouldn’t be a party without the Sauerkraut Band.

They’ll arrive at the venue with no set list, no sheet music and no sauerkraut.

None of that will stop these musicians from doing what they’ve been doing for 41 years: riling up a crowd.

“Once you see a ‘Kraut, you’re never going to forget them,” said Gordon Taylor, bandmaster and trombone player.

Thirty motley musicians show up to parades with colorful costumes, instruments and enthusiasm.

Then they wing it.

They don’t have a set list but they do have a standard repertoire that includes oom-pah-pah favorites such as “Beer Barrel Polka.” Today they’ll play at 1:30 at the Snohomish Soccer Dome.

Over the years, the band has become a well-loved fixture at events in Snohomish and points beyond.

It started in 1968 when Art Schwartzmiller, a high school custodian, heard there wouldn’t be a marching band at the Kla-Ha-Ya Day parade. The high school band was away on tour.

So Schwartzmiller broke into the band room and borrowed some instruments. He gathered every relative who could thump a drum. The Schwartzmiller kids wore painted black handlebar mustaches and rosy cheeks. After a few hours of practice, they marched in the parade, handing out little cups of sauerkraut along the way.

“They sounded so bad it was hysterical,” Taylor said.

It became an annual tradition.

The group was originally the Schwartzmiller Sauerkraut Band, but when its founder retired from the band in 1995, the name went with him. The band has been a nonprofit ever since. Members get together a few times a year to practice but mostly they show up at fairs and parades around the Northwest and play. The proceeds go to charity.

A few of the original members still play. The band members range in age from 82 to 18 months — Taylor’s granddaughter shakes a tambourine. The instruments are mainly brass and percussion.

Taylor joined the band in 1970 when he was a senior at Snohomish High School. He started marching with the ‘Krauts on a whim one parade. As bandmaster, he leads the group and reacts to the vibe of a crowd. The band has high-spirited “shakers” who get the crowd involved shaking pom-poms or kicking the cancan.

“I’ve played with a lot of bands in my life and this is the only one I still get the emotion of playing with a group.”