Staff Writer
Things aren’t turning around for the Long Beach Junior Concert Band (LBJCB).
Although the nonprofit youth band celebrated its 60th anniversary on June 6, the group has barely been able to make ends meet in the last few months after being moved from their longtime Signal Hill location last year to a new spot, only to be forced out again.
The band still has yet to find a permanent location to perform rehearsals and store band equipment. Making matters worse, a truck the band used to store uniforms and equipment was engulfed in flames due to an engine fire on the way to the Wilmington Labor Day Parade, said Carrie Daquiado, the band’s treasurer and former band member.
Band equipment and uniforms were salvaged, and nobody was injured during the fire, but the group still needs a small, 12-to-14-foot, band-type truck since squeezing all of the equipment into the group’s remaining truck can be difficult, she said. “We don’t have a whole lot of room in there ! It’s really put a damper on us,” Daquiado said, adding that any donation would be tax-deductible since the organization is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit.
As far as finding a permanent rehearsal and storage space, efforts so far have “not panned out,” she said. LBJCB had originally leased a 10,000-square-foot facility the band shared with the Long Beach Gas & Oil Department at 3221 Industry Dr. in Signal Hill for 20 years. But the band was moved in April of last year to a location at 231 South St., where they shared space with the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department’s afterschool program and the Long Beach Heritage Museum.
A truck the Long Beach Junior Concert Band used to store uniforms and equipment was engulfed in flames because of an engine fire on the way to the Wilmington Labor Day Parade
Though the City had previously provided the band with $30,000 per year in the 1990s, those funds were cut as well. As of late, Daquiado said the City has not offered any financial assistance. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster’s office had worked to find a temporary storage facility at Price Transfer, a trucking company located near Santa Fe Avenue and Del Amo Boulevard, but that plan fell through as well. “As far as our office goes, we haven’t had any success in finding space for them,” said Stacey Toda, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff.
The Salvation Army had recently come forward to provide space for the band but informed the group last week that the property is to be leased to someone else, Daquiado said. On the bright side, EDCO, a recycling and waste-collection services company in Signal Hill, has offered the use of an enclosed parking lot at 2755 California Ave. for drum rehearsals. “[EDCO] is allowing us to use it free of charge,” she said. “We can’t thank them enough.”
Daquiado said the youth band continues to survive off of fees from band members and donor contributions. The concert band is made up of members age 13 to 21 from Long Beach and cities as far away as El Monte. “A lot of kids are from underprivileged homes, and we give them a place they can come to and where they learn respect and community spirit,” she said. “They learn basic values that they just don’t get, and it’s keeping the kids out of the streets and out of gangs.”
To lend assistance or make a donation to the LBJCB, email lbjcb@aol.com or call Daquiado at (310) 698-9815.
