By Rod King and Vince LaBarbera
Two charter members of the Fort Wayne Area Community Band raised independently of one another in adjacent states have had remarkedly similar lives.
Rod King was born and only child and raised in Bowling Green, OH. He initially studied the clarinet and then in high school played the tenor saxophone in marching and concert bands, and in a dance band. Rod also participated in football, basketball and track describing his efforts as “mediocre.” His senior year he suffered a broken nose in a football game but managed to play a dance-band gig after the game with his nose packed with cotton.
Vince LaBarbera, born in Fort Wayne, also an only child, learned to play the piano initially and switched to trumpet before high school where he, too, played in the marching and concert bands, and in the dance band but without the cotton.
Rod attended Ohio University where he earned a journalism degree. Vince entered the University of Notre Dame as a music major. He played in nearly all the music organizations available but earned a bachelor’s degree in communication arts, not music. He completed his studies at Northwestern University receiving a master’s degree in journalism and advertising.
Rod moved to Fort Wayne where he eventually took a job in the Public Affairs Department at Indiana & Michigan Electric Company. He also joined the U.S. Army Reserves in Fort Wayne.
Vince also enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves where he met Rod in 1965 who told him of an opening in I&M’s Public Affairs Dept. Vince told Rod he had hired an employment agency to find him a job in public relations or advertising and they eventually came through for him in 1966 with the open job at I&M.
One noticeable difference in their pasts involved their future wives. Rod’s wife, Natalie, was a familiar acquaintance. They grew-up in the same neighborhood, attended secondary schools together, and have been married for 65 years. Vince and his wife, Marty, were raised in different neighborhoods and attended separate schools. They met on a blind date and have been married for 57 years.
Both couples have enjoyed cruising together to Hawaii and the Caribbean, and during vacations in Mexico and Florida. They often dine out together and enjoy attending plays and musicals. In their younger days, Rod and Vince enjoyed playing tennis and golf together. That’s where the title of “mediocre” switched from Rod’s sports experience to Vince’s.
It was Marty who spotted a small write-up in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel inviting interested musicians to join a Community Band being formed by a Dr. William F. Schlacks at the former Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne campus. Rod and Vince attended the first rehearsal on Nov. 7, 1979, and are charter members of what is now known as the Fort Wayne Area Community Band observing its 45th anniversary.
Rod has served two terms as president of the Band, several years as its publicity chair, producing many concert programs, and as an announcer since the Band’s second concert in 1980 when Dr. Schlacks turned his concert notes over to him.
Vince also has served two terms as president, as the publicity chair, as a member-at-large and as an announcer for many years. On occasion both life-long friends would share the announcing duties and introduce a little “shtick” to entertain an audience.
Both Rod and Vince retired from I&M in 1996. Vince served the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend for an additional 16 years retiring as the Director of Communications.
In retirement both life-long friends enjoy serving the community as free-lance writers. Rod covers local and area meetings, events, and writing business and individual profiles, features and destination pieces. Vince does publicity for St. Therese Catholic Church and writes profile and feature pieces of individuals and events. He also volunteers for the Audio Reading Service of the Allen County Public Library for the sight-impaired.
We all need a real friend who matters in our lives. Real friends simply are the ones who know how to make us laugh and who are full of life and spirit. They are the ones who bring joy, hope and comfort to each other even in the midst of life’s most difficult situations.