A few contemporary photos offer a celebration of the lives of Calumet German Band members by some of their descendants. More images will be added as they become available.
Shown here are Cinda Bidwell Beardsley and family members. Cinda is a grandniece of band member Newell Bidwell (1896-1918). Her father, Guy C. “Skeet” Bidwell (1905-1989), was a younger brother to Newell, and he grieved the loss of his brother at such a tragically young age. Cinda grew up in Sutherland, Iowa, with her father and mother, Fern Ellen Shaffer (1913-2011), and she now lives in Plainfield, Illinois, in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago.
One of the grandchildren of band member Henry W. Mugge (1891-1967), Paul H. Mugge, is shown here with his wife Karen (both in back row center) and their children, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. Paul’s father was Lyle J. Mugge (1915-2000), who carried on the farming tradition of Henry Mugge and who farmed near the farms of both Henry and Henry’s own father, Johann Hermann Mugge. Paul and Karen continue to farm the land of Lyle Mugge and his wife Mildred Eva Yoakam Mugge (1915-2010) near Calumet.
Bill Hoffman is a grandson of band member John Mehrens (1889-1941). Bill’s mother, Ruth Allene “Allie” Mehrens Hoffman (1921-2005), was one of two children of John Mehrens and his spouse Anna Christina Steen (1889-1983). Allie and her husband Carl William Hoffman (1919-2016), Bill’s father, are discussed in the narrative as carrying on and extending John Mehrens’s love of music. Bill Hoffman lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Another grandson of band member Henry Mugge (1891-1967), Wayne D. Mugge (holding framed photo), is shown with his wife Emily and their daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. Wayne and Em, who live in Waterville, Iowa, seem to have taken the idea of posing with a commemorative photo to the logically recursive next step: one group photo set in a beautiful outdoor environment embedded within another group photo set in a beautiful outdoor environment.