Tickets sold for souvenir festival quilt

By REBECCA NEAL
Staff Writer

Festival attendees can buy a ticket for a chance to win the ultimate Brass Band Festival souvenir — a quilt made of Brass Band T-shirts.

Jack and Martha Distler of Louisville have attended the festival for 12 years and offered to make a quilt after making a similar quilt for their daughter-in-law last year.

“We presented it to her at the concert, and I think she probably showed it to everyone there,” said Martha Distler.

They used all of their shirts making that quilt, so the festival organizers donated shirts for them to use. The Distlers used both the front and backs of the shirts for variety.

“The backs are good because they have the names of all the bands that year,” Martha Distler said.

The quilt is a tribute to the Advocate Brass Band and will be displayed in Danville prior to the festival, and at the courthouse gazebo during Brass Band weekend. Tickets for a chance to win the quilt are $5 and may be purchased in advance at the Danville/Boyle County Convention & Visitors Bureau and at the Festival Marketplace during GABBF weekend.

The quilt took a month to complete and was a joint effort. Jack Distler helped cut and sew the pieces and made the plaque at the bottom of the quilt. He said the quilt was a labor of love for the festival, music and fun they look forward to every year.

“The most important thing about the quilt is what it represents,” he said.

Martha Distler said they had many decisions to make when planning the quilt.

“The hardest part was probably trying to decide what size to make the quilt and which shirts to use,” she said.

A love for brass band music runs in the Distler family. Jack Distler plays the tuba in the River Cities Concert Band in Louisville, and his son and daughter-in-law also play in a band. Martha Distler, however, prefers to sit back and listen.

“I’m just not musical,” she said with a laugh.

No matter what, the festival and music should be about having fun together with family and friends, the Distlers said.

“It’s about the music, atmosphere and the family entertainment,” Jack Distler said.