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Saxophone donation honors memory of GHS grad Bob Bitzer
In 1962, Bob Bitzer wanted to join the band at Greencastle Junior High School.
There was only one problem — neither Bob nor his parents could afford a tenor saxophone like he wanted.
“My parents didn’t have a lot of money,” younger brother Tim Bitzer said. “Bob said, ‘I have to have an instrument.’”
Undeterred, Bob forged forward on his own. Picking up more than one delivery route for The Daily Banner, the boy eventually saved the $350 to buy his very own Italian-made Benetone (which literally translates “good tone”) tenor saxophone.
The instrument served the Bitzer family well, as Bob played it through junior high and high school, and younger brother Tim later got his start on saxophone in the 1970s with the very same instrument. (Incidentally, Tim also spent time as a paper boy for this very publication, which by then had merged into the Banner Graphic.)
Bob passed away in November 2022, and the sax made its way to Tim. Though the younger Bitzer plays to this very day, he had other plans for the antique instrument. Fully aware that even an entry-level instrument costs well in excess of $350 in 2024, he wanted to donate it to the Greencastle band program.
“I initially wanted to have the old sax completely refurbished to donate to either Greencastle Middle School or Greencastle High School,” Tim, who now lives in Bloomington, said. “Although the techs at Musician’s Repair in Indy said they could completely overhaul it to make it like new, it would still not be a great horn and that I’d actually be doing a disservice to any student trying to learn on it.”
Instead, Tim purchased a newer Buffet-Crampon tenor to donate to the Greencastle Music Department.
In memory, he had Bob’s name engraved on the neck.
On Wednesday, Tim formally made the donation to Greencastle band director Annette Munoz-Thede, who was thrilled with the support.
“When I have a student with need, I want to put a quality instrument in their hands,” Munoz-Thede said.
Quality was the goal when Tim was picking out the specific saxophone, as it was one of several models that Tim tried out before making his selection. He plays in several bands around Bloomington, including the Bloomington Community Band, two different jazz bands and a dixieland band, using a top-of-the-line Selmer Mark VI tenor.
“When I played this saxophone,” he said of the donated horn, “what ticked me off was that it played better, played easier than my Mark VI! I feel good about donating a quality horn.”
The younger Bitzer also expressed his intent to help maintain the horn by paying for any annual repairs or tuning it may need.
By making the donation, Tim not only wishes to honor Bob’s memory but also to move others to take similar steps and pay it forward.
“Hopefully this will motivate people to dig their unused instruments out of the closet, basement or attic and donate them to the school,” he said.
Those interested in donating to the Greencastle Music Department in any form may contact Munoz-Thede at amunoz@greencastle.k12.in.us.
Bitzer believes it is vital in providing students with the opportunity for fuller, richer lives and a complete educational experience.
“Other than my family, music is the thing that gives me the most joy,” he said.
He and Munoz noted that playing music helps develop students’ math and language skills as well as their teamwork and emotional intelligence.
“You have to develop your emotional intelligence to play with others,” Bitzer said. “People downplay the importance of music education and band, and that’s just wrong.”