In the early to mid-1950s a group of approximately fifty of our local citizens from various walks of life made quite a name for themselves as the New Knoxville Community Singers. Mr. Ferd Eversman was their director and his wife, Zella, their accompanist. The members were pulled together by a common interest – their love of singing.
After teaching voice as a college professor Ferd Eversman taught voice music in the New Knoxville School from 1931 to 1952. After this he gave private voice lessons at his home, and Zella gave piano and organ lessons. With encouragement from some of his former and current students, Mr. Eversman organized the informal group, the New Knoxville Community Singers. The members of the group ranged in age from mid-20s to mid-60s, and many of them were young parents with school-age or younger children.
They made their first public appearances in early 1954, doing musical and comedy skits to benefit the New Knoxville Youth Activities Association. The NKYAA was an association formed at the end of World War II to purchase land for the construction of a baseball diamond and other outdoor athletic facilities at the school to honor and memorialize our brave World War II veterans. During their first year they developed a repertoire of four different shows. Each show was performed multiple times; one of them having been performed as many as eleven times. Some of these shows were performed in other communities, such as St. Marys and Wapakoneta. One show was titled “Thru the Years,” and another was “The Four Seasons in Song.”
As time went on, the group became extremely popular, and on December 18, 1954, it was announced In the St. Marys Evening Leader that the group would appear on TV. WLWD Channel 2 Dayton had a half-hour feature on Sundays entitled “This Is Our Town,” and on March 13, 1955, New Knoxville was the lucky featured town. The show presented fifteen minutes of music by the Community Singers and ten minutes of video featuring some New Knoxville citizens and scenes of the town. The film was recorded by Allen Katterheinrich and narrated by Roger Henkener. It is probably safe to assume that every TV antenna in New Knoxville was aimed toward Dayton at 12:30 that afternoon to see the group of fifty people pictured below.
New Knoxville Community Singers
This picture of the New Knoxville Community Singers was taken before they appeared on WLWD Channel 2 on March 13, 1955.
Front Row (l to r): Ferd Eversman, Director, Barbara Stroh, Joann Feldwisch, Wilma Lammers, Gloria Katterheinrich, Ann Katterheinrich, Ruth Niemeyer, Janet Bryson, Jean Henschen, Lola Lammers, Betty Stout, Marge Henschen, Zella Eversman, Accompanist.
Second Row (l to r): Alvina Hoelscher, Esther Laughlin, Agnes Bierbaum, Virginia Kuck, Marian Elshoff, Miriam Henschen, Sue Hoge, Mary Hoge, Mary Rohrbaugh, Catherine Skapura, Donna Harmeyer, Luanna Schnelle.
Third Row (l to r): Raymond Hoelscher, Silas lammers, Arthur Wellman, Reuben Bierbaum, Joe Schroer, Gustave Hoge, Albert Aufderhaar, Richard Elsass, Velma Elshoff, Charlene Stolte, Margaret Henschen, Meta Kuck, Olga Kuck.
Fourth Row (l to r): Arnold Wierwille, Leonard Schroer, Floranz Elshoff, Oliver Hoge, William Meckstroth, Ray Henschen, Harry Wierwille, Joel Hoge, Oscar Hoelscher, Walter Meyer, Lawrence Schroeder, Howard Kuck.
The popularity of the group continued to grow, and they performed benefit shows for various organizations besides the NKYAA including the Cancer Fund and the Soroptimist Club – a service club whose primary beneficiary was the Auglaize School. Tickets usually sold for seventy-five cents or a dollar. The NK Community Singers presented a wide variety of selections including sacred and secular songs, spirituals, and Christmas music in season, along with comedy skits in costume. Some of the musical arrangements were written by Mr. and Mrs. Eversman. For several years the NK Community Singers performed at Lakeside Chautauqua, singing for the worship service in the morning and giving a concert in the afternoon. They performed for the Toledo Zoo Sunday program and for some special occasions, such as the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the Hoge Lumber Company and the Auglaize School dedication.
Their popularity and frequent performances of song and comedy continued from the group’s beginnings in 1954 through 1959. Then on January 15, 1960, Mr. Eversman passed away. On November 3, 1961, the group performed their show entitled “Dixie Showboat” under the direction and accompaniment of Mrs. Eversman, in the auditorium of the New Knoxville School. The group did a repeat performance of “Dixie Showboat” for the benefit of the Soroptimist Club at the St. Marys Memorial High School on January 13, 1962, and that was possibly their final performance.
The St. Marys Evening Leader announced and advertised a majority of the performances of the Community Singers, but in searching the online archives of the newspaper all the way through 1965, we found no mention of any more concerts.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
Our primary source of information for this article consisted of searching the online archives of the St. Marys Evening Leader at https://stmarys.historyarchives.online/home from 1954 to 1965 for any articles concerning the New Knoxville Community Singers and their performances.
On January 23, 1960, an Andrew Kay interview with Mr. Eversman was published as an article in the Evening Leader. The interview had been done just days before his death. This interview can be found on our website at:
Home > History > Interviews > Eversman, Ferd F.
More information on the New Knoxville Youth Activities Association (NKYAA) can be found in the Evening Leader archives mentioned above or on our website at:
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