Band members and fans were saddened by the passing of one of our original members this past year.  Bob Mellinger was the band vocalist from its very beginning.   He was 84 years old.

Bob's hometown was Nappanee before moving to Elkhart.  As a vocalist he had a long and colorful history, first with the Air Force Orchestra, and later as a winner on the then famous Morris B. Sax Amateur Show on WGN in 1946.  He was selected by an agent for the "Stars of Tomorrow Show" with the Les Brown Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom in Chicago.  He auditioned for the Arthur Godfrey Show at one point and worked as a singing waiter at the Avalon Show Lounge in Chicago.  In New York he became an amateur show winner at the famed "Apollo Theater" on 125th Street in Harlem.  He sang on weekends at a resort hotel in the Catskill Mountains.  In recent years, in addition to his regular spot with the Truth In Jazz, Bob appeared with Albert Hidalgo at the local Meijer Store and at the Bull Dog Lounge in Elkhart. 

Perhaps the period in his musical life of which he was most proud was the time he spent with the Les Brown Band.  This opportunity came just before Doris Day left the band for Hollywood. 

Bob often recalled the thrill of singing at the Apollo in Harlem.  Music greats were regular performers at the legendary theater in those days and Bob noted that Dinah Washington was in the show when he sang there.  He told us..."I sang What A Difference A Day Makes, and that was before it became one of Dinah's all time big hits." 

If you were fortunate enough to have been a friend of Bob's as he reminisced about  those great old days, you might have seen the characteristic sparkle in his eye and heard a faint chuckle, as he handed you a white peppermint lifesaver and said walking away..."Memories are made of this."  

Bob will be missed by his friends and his fans alike.  We're all a little better for having had the good fortune to make music with him.