HARTFORD - 
Before succumbing to complications of Alzheimer’s disease last summer, Wilbert Roemer left strict instructions to his family, friends and band mates - anyone that would listen, really.

No statues.

"When we talked to my dad when he was still fairly cognizant of his surroundings, we asked him what he would like as a tribute to the time and effort of keeping the band going, said his son, George Roemer. "He said he didn’t want a statue. That was not of interest to him."

To that end, The Hartford City Band - the very group he helped reboot in the years following World War II - next Wednesday will present the world premiere of "Wilbert’s Pasture," a suite of music commissioned by Wilbert’s family to honor the legacy of a man who put family and community first.

The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Woodlawn Park.

"When he died, it was really hard for my brother and my sister and myself, so I was thinking we needed to do something positive to honor him," said Wilbert’s daughter, Sandy Nadeau. "My thought was, he loved this band, he started this band, and I thought the best way to honor him was with a piece of music."

Nadeau serves as executive director of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra in Minnesota. She tapped Glen Tuomaala, a faculty member at St. Cloud State University and composer, to write the music.

The day after its Hartford debut, "Wilbert’s Pasture" will be performed by the St. Cloud Municipal Band in St. Cloud.

George Roemer worked with the Hartford City Band, of which he is president, to fund the effort with Thrivent Financial. Nadeau worked with Tuomaala to compose the music, not in its writing but to help him evoke the right feeling.

"The composer and I talked a lot about growing up on the farm and life on the farm and what my dad was like," Nadeau said. "He was light years ahead in that he cared a lot about his community. He worked on an effort to clean up the Rubicon River. He just was dedicated to his community, making it better and making it a better place for his family to live. I spent a lot of time with Glen talking about that."

Quite the innovator, George Roemer said his father’s vision prevented the roughly 300 acre farm his family still runs from severe damage in June’s record round of floods.

"Our land here was kind of hilly so he put in waterways and terrace ways," George Roemer said. "Of course the wisdom of that was of that of planning ahead. He put them in in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and when we had all the flooding in June, our soil - it’s not that we weren’t affected - but it held up very nicely. Even though he’s not here, his presence is," Roemer said.

That is also evident in the growth of the Hartford City Band, he said. The group regularly brings together as many as 50 to 60 musicians for weekly summer concerts at Woodlawn Park in Hartford. Band members also march in four or five parades each summer in Hartford and surrounding communities.

The son of Wilbert Roemer’s other daughter, Robin Mills, will join the Hartford City Band on tuba for Wednesday’s performance. Wilbert’s survivors, including his widow, Anita, will be in attendance.

Following the performance, the music will be placed onto a Web site, www.wilbertspasture.com, and put into the public domain. Musicians from all over the world can download the completed piece and its score.

Roemer’s children hope other musicians will be inspired to perform it elsewhere.

"He’d love that," George Roemer said. "He’d just really love that. He would think that would be just the neatest thing."

His sister agreed.

"I think he’d be surprised that we got this far with it," Nadeau said. "I think he would be very pleased and he would be excited by all of the elements that have come together to create this. He brought this band to Hartford, and now he’s bringing something else, too. A world premiere."