Stay tuned for In Our Range on the way next, brought to you by Westgate Nursing Rehabilitation and Assisted Living Center.
Good morning and welcome to In Our Range.
I'm Michael Bow.
My guest this morning is Jake Selinski, current commander of Marty's Golden Heirs.
Marty's Golden Heirs is a parade and concert corps which performs primarily in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota from May to Labor Day weekend.
Musical selections through the years have pleased all audience types with a mixture of swing, rock, patriotic, and nostalgic drum core styles.
The group's name is in memory of its founder, Martin O. Lamero, alias Mr. Music, original music director and arranger of Marty's Golden Heirs Drum and Bugle Corps.
Marty's was established in 1950 by members of the American Legion Post-27 as the post considered ways to promote the group and support the community.
Postmember Nick Ray suggested a drum and bugle core and Marty Lamarrow quickly seconded it.
The idea took off and they soon formed the American Legion Post's 27 drum and bugle core.
For 18 years, the all-male core performed in community events and numerous competitions, conventions, and festivals within the region.
It was during this period that director Marty Lamarrow coined the phrase, wherever we go, there shall be music.
With the death of Marty in 1968, the core went into dormancy.
In 1976, local veterans succeeded in inspiring enough past members and a few local recruits to practice and play in the Vesmer Fourth of July Parade.
In 1980, Marty's Golden Heirs started its current consecutive streak of 35-plus seasons of local, regional, and national parade and concert performing.
For most of those years, Dan Petrone has acted as the core music director and arranger as well as a lead soprano.
Mr. Petrone is known for his methods and knack of throwing a variety of styles at the crowd,
including military and patriotic, classical and show tunes, swing, rock, blues, and even jazz.
Marty's Golden Heirs are a beloved fixture here on the range, playing festivals and celebrations with the tradition and sense of family that brings everyone together.
This May, 75 years after their formation, and 250 years since our country's founding, Marty's is heading to Washington D.C.
to march and perform in the National Memorial Day Parade.
This morning we're joined by Marty's current commander, Jake Salinsky.
Jake is in his 17th season as a member of Marty's and has been their commander for seven years.
Jake started playing trumpet as a student at A.D.
Johnston and Bessmer.
Thanks for joining us Jake.
Thank you very much for having me.
Good morning all.
Happy to be here.
Yeah, welcome to NR range.
So Marty's Golden Heirs started as a drum and bugle corps for the American Legion post-27.
How important has that relationship been for the group?
Extremely important.
Our relationship with the American Legion
essentially is number one.
We wouldn't be around without them.
So as it notes on our website, Post 27 does sponsor us in Besmer and then with that sponsorship comes a lot of other relationships with legions throughout the state and the country.
The Michigan Legion has been super helpful financially in supporting us for this our upcoming trip.
other legions around the state also have contributed monetarily to the success of our mission.
So it's super important that we honor veterans, we play for them, and we want to keep it going.
So we're very happy to be Legion-sponsored.
Wonderful.
So the post is getting more support from other Legion posts around the state and you're being recognized for the work that you guys do with veterans.
Yes, absolutely.
We love playing for veterans and their families.
I mean, music can move people in many different ways.
It's said that it's the universal language and we're just happy to support veterans where we can and support to go give a range as a whole.
Excellent and you guys do a wonderful job of that.
I had no idea about Marty's I moved here in 2019 and Anytime I've seen you guys out there.
It's been a treat whether I was at a
at the ore house there in Ramsey a few years ago when you guys went in there and played I had my little girl with me and she just her eyes were just so wide to see you guys stuffed in there and playing like that and it's a wonderful tradition the way you guys go around and pop into these bars in and out do your thing and then head out it's a it's pretty incredible
Yeah it's a lot of fun.
Bar storming is one of our favorite things to do.
Yeah I mean it's fun packing a bar and playing a few songs.
I mean it just brings a smile to everyone's face and we have a lot of fun doing it too so that's definitely a tradition that'll continue on into the future.
Marty's really is a brotherhood.
We spend so much time with each other in the summer and even in the off season it's like one big family so anytime we're together playing music we're having fun.
When I think about Marty's and the Drum and Bugle Corps, it seems to me like it's a tradition that goes back even further than a Drum and Bugle Corps in 1950.
When the mines were up and running here back in the day, every mine, every neighborhood had its own brass band, and they'd get out there and parade, play for each other as a way for guys to get together and experience fellowship, also promoting their mines and a sense of community.
I feel that and I think the people here on the range also sort of feel back like there's something that that y'all tap into with the tradition and ancestry here on the range of community bands getting together that it just it brings so many generations together.
Absolutely.
That's a very good point about the community bands in the mining ranges.
Like I said, music, it's a universal language.
It brings joy to everybody.
camaraderie, fellowship and yeah we've got a very special group of guys that play music together and we're happy to keep it going for the community and hopefully strong into the future.
With this upcoming trip we've had a major influx of new recruits probably 15 to 20 so pretty much
When we go to DC, every single drum that we have and every single horn is going to be, we're pretty much at max capacity.
We're going to be marching with 73 guys.
That's the biggest number we've ever marched with.
We actually invited the Michigan State Commander.
the first vice second vice finance officer and sergeant at arms they're going to lead us down Constitution Avenue so we're going to have a really strong representation of the state of Michigan and the Michigan Legion so we're super proud of that and then uh yeah just having an influx of new guys young and old we've got some guys that
haven't marched since the 80s.
They're coming back.
They committed to the season and then we've probably got 10 to 12 high schoolers from all over the Gobiq range.
So super exciting times for Marty's Golden Ears.
That's really incredible.
So you've got, you've got new recruits and then you've got some big wigs from the Michigan Legion who are going to be your color guard as you represent.
us here on the Go Gevick Range down there in Washington DC for the 250th anniversary for the National Memorial Day Parade.
And that's part of the reason I wanted to bring you in here today, not just talk about the history and the mission of Marty's, but to discuss your fundraising attempts for getting all you guys down there.
Yeah, so there's there's many different ways that we're seeking support.
We have established the GoFundMe account can find online on the GoFundMe website or on Facebook.
There's several links that's still open.
We're getting close to our goal, but with the influx of new members, we had to buy actually some new uniforms and equipment.
So we're getting close.
And then also funds can be dropped off or transferred or mailed into the credit union in Bessemer.
That's the GoGibba County Federal Credit Union.
So many different ways to donate and we certainly appreciate any monetary support.
Even, you know, good vibes, thoughts are all good.
Yeah.
So speaking about music, bringing everyone together, you guys play such a wide variety of music, you know, you don't, you'll hear the Marines hymn and then you'll hear some rock and roll or something like that.
What have been some of your favorite pieces to perform in the last few years?
Oh, my favorite is probably wipe out, honestly.
And I mean, that's, that's.
really featuring the drummers but that's just it really gets everybody going and everybody rocking but so that would probably be my favorite upbeat tune that we play rock and roll and then my favorite patriotic song is requiem for a soldier that's the theme song from the HBO miniseries band of brothers came out in 2001 that is such a powerful piece of music it literally
makes the hair stand up on my shoulders every single time we play it.
When you hear those big booming chords, it's a very, very powerful piece.
And so many of the guys being legion members and being veterans themselves, there's just real passion and feeling behind all these performances.
Absolutely.
Oftentimes when we play in a vet center, a legion, we'll play there.
Our military medley, which is another one of our staples and you'll see when the veteran stands for their branch of service Whether it be army Navy Air Force Marines Coast Guard there You'll often see tears running down their eyes and then then we get choked up and it's hard to play but it's always a nice thing to see and that's that's really the reason we do it for the vets so
So let's talk a little bit about the logistics
of getting all these guys down to Washington DC and making sure that they're prepared and rested for the trip.
What are some of the expenses you're looking at?
Well, travel and lodging are the two main ones.
So the bus is going to be about 25 to 30 grand.
And then we're going to have to take a U-Haul down to haul our equipment because we won't have enough room in the bus.
And then we're flying a few guys just
because we didn't have enough room to fit everybody on the bus.
So
maybe some of those guys earned a little first
class treatment.
We're flying our older guys, our senior guys, 75 plus.
So it would be uncomfortable for them to have to be on a bus for 20 hours.
So we're leaving Friday night, the 22nd of May, like 9 p.m.
We've actually got to wait for some of our seniors.
They're graduating.
So their ceremonies are Friday night.
So they're going to literally walk across the stage, get their diploma.
And then you're going to jump on a Marty's bus and go to DC.
Oh, what an adventure.
That's going to be a pretty cool way to spend their graduation weekend.
Oh,
yeah.
So yeah, we have four seniors this year that'll be graduating in May.
So it's exciting for them.
We'll get there mid-Saturday afternoon, settle into our hotel, and then we're going to do a tour of the Capitol on that Sunday.
And then there's a big Memorial Day concert Sunday evening.
and then Monday's a parade and we'll do that and we might do an impromptu concert a little bar storming and then Tuesday morning we are getting up we're gonna do the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery and then we're gonna hop on our way back home so
there at the tomb of the unknown soldier
yep
Yep.
Wow.
Incredible.
It's going to be an action packed weekend, but it's going to be an unforgettable weekend, I think.
Yeah.
I come back tired and probably feeling and wired as well.
Juiced up.
Absolutely.
At least you got about 22 hours on a bus to get some rest.
Yeah.
We can crash on the way home.
Yeah.
So yeah.
150 to 200,000 people attend this parade.
So they said expect numbers 10 to 15 rows deep of people on both sides.
and it's not one of those parades where you stop it's just there's so many people coming through you march straight through and we actually have to submit paperwork of like what number we're playing right in front of the judges stand there's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes to make this happen and we've got a really good group of guys working on it and we're going to be represented well we'll be ready
if you don't mind telling what are you planning to play for the judges there
i believe battle him of the republic
Excellent, that's a good one.
It's an appropriate choice there.
Yeah, thank you Yeah, we thought so too so and then we've got other six other marching numbers that we're gonna play we're gonna do out the whole armed forces medley and then America my country tis of D and then God bless America and then this is my country which is a standard for us So yeah, it's it's gonna be good and then we're also doing a concert May 8th at the ironwood theater.
That's Friday May 8th at 7 p.m.
So
Because of the Memorial Day concert or Memorial Day parade We felt we need to do a dress rehearsal and this is also going to be like a the last fundraiser to kind of push us over the edge for funds, but We figured this is essentially our Super Bowl So we better do have a little bit of a warm-up and do some playing beforehand.
Yeah This is one of those times where you get the opportunity you got to go big and pull out all the stops, right?
Yep
Yep.
So we're practicing harder than we ever have.
We're going to look good.
We're going to sound good and we'll be ready.
So we actually started practice a month earlier than we normally do.
So tonight's actually going to be our third practice of the season.
The spirits are up.
Everybody's amped up, pumped up.
We're playing well already just for, you know, it only being our third practice and us taking about six months off.
So we're trending in the right direction and things are looking good.
Yeah.
Getting those chops worked up, getting your steps in, I hope.
Absolutely.
We're going to probably have to get some gym time if the snow doesn't melt soon.
But hopefully by mid-April we can be out on the street and then we'll probably do some gym practices.
Best Murr of the Saints of Bastion School.
Come back and
have a nice
little sauna.
Yep.
And relax and a beer.
Absolutely.
Excellent.
So you'll be at, Marty's Golden Errors will be at the hit.
at the theater on May 8th for that fundraiser.
Yep.
Just to repeat that and let everybody know about that.
Yeah, 7 p.m.
Marty's guys will be selling tickets starting next week and then the theater is going to have 200 tickets to sell along with Leather and Gift.
So we'll be announcing that on our Facebook pages and social media in the next week or so.
Excellent.
So on Facebook it's just Marty's golden errors.
Yep.
Get on there and follow you.
Yep.
Give us a follow and
That'll be the best way to keep up to date on any Marty's Golden Heirs news for the community.
And online, the website is marty's goldenheirs.squarespace.com.
Yep.
Is that it?
Marty's Golden Heirs at squarespace.com, I believe.
Yeah.
And you can go there and there's a button to click to donate if you want.
And so.
Yeah Jake I really appreciate you coming in today.
Yeah thanks for taking the time to meet with me and we appreciate the community support.
It's been outstanding and like I said with the support of the American Legion and the community we wouldn't be here so we're happy to serve veterans and the community all around and thank you everybody so much.
Sounds like a great way to start off the 2026 season this summer and I'm sure people are so proud of you and thank you for everything you do serving the community bringing us together and serving veterans here we really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
We're happy to do it.
You guys take care.
Yeah, thanks for coming in Jake.
My guest this morning has been Jake Zelinski, commander of Marty's Golden Heirs.
They're set to travel to Washington DC for the National Memorial Day Parade.
That's on Monday, Monday, May 25th, and they'll be down there.
They're currently raising funds to get all the guys down there, you know, and if they hit their goal, that's one thing.
But you know, these guys are working really hard to represent us in the best way.
So if we can get them a meal or two along the way,
Or while they're there, help them get some rest.
Just keep those dollars coming in for these guys because they do a great job.
So you can contribute to their trip by dropping off mailing or transferring funds to Marty's at the Go Gebit County Federal Credit Union.
That's at 600 West Lead Street in Bessemer, Michigan.
And you can call 906-663-4011.
They also have a Go Fund Me campaign online on their website at martysgoldenairs.squarespace.com.
And thank you for joining us.
on NR Range.
We'll see you next week.