Columbians celebrate 50th anniversary in Columbia Falls

Slide Show: Columbians Alumni Band

At the end of the 1950s in this industrial town, there was plenty of blue-collar toughness, but not a whole lot of jazz.

Then came Don Lawrence in 1959, and along with him came a new era. It was the beginning of Columbia Falls High School’s reign as a premiere big band jazz institution – the birth of the student jazz group known as the Columbians. This year, the Columbians are celebrating their 50th birthday.

Click here for the full story Making the (Big) Band by Myers Reece.