GLENVILLE – &uot;Playing ‘Taps’ is like saying goodbye to a fellow veteran,&uot; says Nestor Sybilrud of Glenville, who started playing this poignant 24-note melody at final rites in local cemeteries more than 70 years ago.

Sunday, May 27, 2001

GLENVILLE – &uot;Playing ‘Taps’ is like saying goodbye to a fellow veteran,&uot; says Nestor Sybilrud of Glenville who started playing this poignant 24-note melody at final rites in local cemeteries over 70 years ago.

&uot;It’s really tough when I’m playing ‘Taps’ for a personal friend,&uot; he added.

Ask how many times he’s joined the area veterans’ honor guard with his trumpet to play &uot;Taps,&uot; Sybilrud replies, &uot;I’ve never kept track.&uot;

This descendant of area Norwegian-American pioneers actually started playing Taps at funeral rites for World War I veterans about 1930.

&uot;I was in high school then. The Legion would call ‘Cap’ Emmons and ask for a bugler to play &uot;Taps.&uot; Cap would give me a pass to get out of class so I could go to the funeral and cemetery,&uot; he explained.

I started playing trumpet in grade school,&uot; Sybilrud said. &uot;I really inherited a horn from my father.&uot;

He graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1931. This was during the Depression era and the only job he could get was playing trumpet in the then-new Viking Accordion Band. This &uot;old-time&uot; band, led by L.A. &uot;Skipper&uot; Berg, was soon playing every night of the week in ballrooms, fraternal halls and social and dance halls in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. Thus, up to 1942, Sybilrud wasn’t available to play &uot;Taps&uot; at the final rites for veterans.

&uot;We were on the road constantly,&uot; he said.

During the years he was with the Vikings, Sybilrud took part in every recording session made by this band. The first session was during 1933 in Richmond, Ind. He said the studio was near some railroad tracks, and whenever a train went by, all musical activities had to cease. Other recording sessions were held in Chicago, Ill., during 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1941.

A booklet written by Skipper Berg lists 23 78-rpm records, or 46 polkas, waltzes and schottisches as being recorded by the Vikings prior to World War II. These were Norwegian. German and Bohemian (Czech) folk dance tunes and were issued and reissued under several record labels.

The Viking Accordion Band performed live on several radio stations, including WNAX in Yankton, S.D., and WMT, then located in Waterloo, Iowa, And the station Sybilrud fondly recalls is WOI in Ames, Iowa, where the Vikings played every Monday afternoon for nine years.

The only break for this band came during the six weeks of Lent, Then the members went on vacation. He said his favorite destinations were Mexico and Havana, Cuba.

Skipper Berg wrote these comments about Sybilrud in his booklet about the history of the Viking Accordion Band:

&uot;He came on in 1931 right after graduating from the Albert Lea High School and stayed with us until he went into the service in February 1942. Ness, or ‘Sam’ as we called him, had a good big trumpet sound. He was a good reader, played some accordion, sang and participated in numerous novelty acts. He had a wonderful personality and made many friends with the dancing public. He married Pearl Johnson of Glenville, Minn., in 1939, and they had two children.&uot;

During World War II Sybilrud was in the U.S. Army and assigned to the Fifth Armored Division Band. However, when this unit went overseas, the bandsmen became road guides.