YSU 's new 'Squire' scholarship honors 66-year band director
YOUNGSTOWN
Donald W. “Squire” Hurrelbrink, who led the Warren Junior Military Band for 66 years, instilled band members with the ideals of duty, honor and country as well as a love for classical music, family and former band members said.
Hurrelbrink’s family and the band’s alumni association established a $77,000 scholarship endowment at Youngstown State University in his honor. Students pursuing degrees in music education at YSU’s Dana School of Music will be eligible with preference given to woodwind, brass or percussion students specializing in kindergarten through 12th-grade instrumental education.
“I joined the band when I was 13,” said James Cunningham, one of the alumni association members. “My mother said when I went to band I was her little boy and I came back as her big son.”
Hurrelbrink, a product of Dana, took over the band in 1930, when he was 21. He served as director until 1996 and died three years later.
The band traveled around the world, performed for U.S. presidents and in events including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Chicago World’s Fair.
Each year, the band performed in at least 20 venues throughout the Mahoning Valley.
The band includes more than 6,000 alumni.
Read more about Hurrelbrink in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.