Send in the Clowns

Entertaining Coast Guard Festival Audiences Since 1950.

The Scottville Clown Band has been entertaining West Michigan audiences for over 120 years. Dressed in zany outfits and constantly goofing around, the brass band puts out a powerful sound that is often an event favorite. But, behind those antics comes a very serious mission: to support youth music education.
The Scottville Clown Band is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. Its roots date back to 1903 in the small town of Scottville, located in Mason County, 10 miles east of Ludington. At that time, a group of merchants loosely formed a band and dressed up as hobos to entertain the town folk at celebrations. They were known as the Scottville Merchants’ Band.

Over the next several decades the band grew as it expanded its performance areas. Eventually, it became known as the clown band from Scottville with its two cornerstone performances being the Scottville Harvest Festival in the fall and the Ludington Independence Day parade in July. When World War II began, many community festivals were put on pause as many of the town’s young men were deployed.

In 1947, the Scottville Harvest Festival was re-started. With it, pre-war member and Scottville merchant Ray Schulte decided to re-form the band, this time officially calling it the Scottville Clown Band.

Besides performing in festivals in Scottville and Ludington, the Scottville Clown Band soon grew in popularity and began performing elsewhere. Since 1950, the band has been a highlight of the Grand Haven Coast Festival, always taking up the rear of the Grand Parade.

“The Clown Band’s annual appearance at the Coast Guard festival turned into more members joining from Ottawa and Muskegon counties,” said David Ladd, the band’s vice president and a life member since 1980. “I grew up watching the Clown Band at the Coast Guard Festival and the former Muskegon Seaway Festival. It was just something that inspired me as a young musician.”

Residents in Muskegon and Ottawa counties will have several opportunities to see the band this year. Of its 30-plus performances, it performs eight times in the area:

• Muskegon Farmers Market, Saturday, July 26, 10:30 a.m.
• Grand Haven American Legion Post #28, Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival celebration, Tuesday, July 29, 7 p.m.
• Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival Parade, Saturday, Aug. 2, 11:45 a.m.; followed by a performance at the Grand Haven Eagles club.
• Hudsonville Community Fair, Hudsonville Fair Grounds, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m.
• Fruitport Dancing Into the Sunset, Pomona Park, Fruitport, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 7 p.m.
• Stan’s Bar 78th Anniversary charity event, Stan’s Bar, 208 W. Savidge St., Spring Lake, Saturday, Sept. 7, 4 p.m.
• Lakeside Fall Festival, Lakeside District, Muskegon, Saturday, Oct. 4, 1 p.m.

The band already performed one show this season at the Food Truck Rally at the Muskegon Farmers Market.

While the Clown Band appears to be a bunch of musicians goofing around and playing fun music, its mission serves an important purpose.

Since the mid-1960s the Scottville Clown Band has provided over half million dollars in scholarships for middle school and high school music students to attend summer programs. Today, the band’s main scholarship is provided through its Raymond Schulte Memorial Scholarship Fund, with a majority of the scholarships awarded to students attending Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in northern Muskegon County.
In fact, Blue Lake’s founder, Fritz Stansell, was a 1949 graduate of Scottville High School (now Mason County Central School District). His father, Gilbert Stansell I, was the school’s band director and help begin the internationally-acclaimed camp.

“Many of our founding members, what we call ‘the class of 47’ joined the band when they were teenagers,” said Clown Band President Herb Early of Idlewild. “Those members felt very strongly about the sense of passing it forward, teaching the next generation. Through this, it became one of the organization’s key missions to encourage youth the joys of music and how it can be a lifelong hobby.”

That investment in youth has also been one of the keys to the Clown Band’s success.

“Our membership consists of males and females ages 14 to 102,” said Early. “Besides having a membership that covers a wide geographical area, we have multiple generations in our band. We have grandchildren playing alongside their parents and grandparents.”

The band also offers grants to public education music programs in Mason, Lake, Oceana, and Manistee counties and a scholarship to a student at West Shore Community College in Scottville.

Scholarships and grants are funded through donations and monies earned by the band’s George F. Wilson Memorial Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation for Mason County.

The band welcomes new members who have a minimum of a high school proficiency in music.
Tax deductible donations to support the band’s scholarship and grant programs, or its endowment, may be sent to Scottville Clown Band, PO Box 21, Scottville, Mich. 49454.

Information about joining the band, its full 2025 schedule of performances, and more information about how to support the band and its mission can be found on the band’s website, scottvilleclownband.com.