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Collecting buttons

Subhead
Bremer missing one band festival button — 1956
Lead Summary
,
By
Mavis Fodness

Faye Bremer blames the unintended collection of Tri-State Band Festival buttons on her late grandfather.
Walter Greene worked as a bill clerk for the South Dakota Senate. Bremer inherited his bucket full of political campaign buttons and would casually toss the buttons from the Tri-State Band Festivals into the bucket.
In honor of the band festival each year, Bremer displayed her button collection at her business, Salon 75 Hair & Spa. Clients would bring in buttons to add to Bremer’s collection.
Sorting through her collection one day, Bremer found she’s missing only one — 1956 — in the band festival’s 71-year history.
“I didn’t mean to collect them,” she said. “I just threw them into the political bucket.”
Bremer originally thought she was missing two, having not found a 1966 button.
The History Center indicated that the 1965 band festival was canceled due to rain, and the committee decided to use the already-made buttons for the following year.
In 2020 no button was made in light of the event’s cancelation due to the pandemic. Face masks were made for the Luverne High School band, who used the last Saturday in September, usually designated for Tri-State Band Festival, as a day for a guest clinician.
A felt banner given to Bremer allows for 55 of the buttons to be displayed. She’s contemplating a new way of displaying her collection. She began taking buttons off in anticipation.
The 2022 button takes on a special significance, as her oldest grandson will compete in the festival Saturday.
“I am so proud and excited to see another generation going through the marching program within the family,” Bremer said.
“I can’t wait to watch him march and watch his parents watch him march. Precious.”

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