Board of Directors

        Tom is an accidental member of the band.  He was planning on accompanying his wife, Corie, who was one of the band’s vocalists on a Michigan upper peninsula tour.  They were leaving on Friday and on Thursday evening when he received a call, Scott, from the head of the percussion section saying that the drummer scheduled for the tour was stuck in London.  Scott knew that Tom had played percussion in the past and asked if I could play for the tour.  He said yes even though he had none of the music, had never played any of it and had no uniform.  By the end of the two week tour, he was a member of the band.

       He formerly performed in his high school band, Warren Junior Military Band, and Youngstown University marching band.  He also did percussion in the pit band for “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.”

       Tom’s background is physics and nuclear engineering.  He spent the first 31 years of his career at DTE Energy in many capacities including planning, marketing and deregulated energy.  After retiring from DTE, he started his own company providing data management and software services to energy retailers.

       Tom joined the board of directors in 2007, and became board president in 2009. As president, he has lead the effort to develop, implement and update strategic plans for the band.

       Like all people, Richard has multiple talents, but musicality is not one of them. He is tone deaf, struggles to find the beat, and cannot dance. However, he loves classical music.

       His classical music journey started in college when he took music appreciation as a liberal arts elective as part of his engineering studies. There was no going back and now listens to classical music most of the day whether driving, cooking, or working in his basement office.

       He owes his involvement with the Band to Bell’s Two Hearted Ale! Tom Root and Richard reconnected over a “hoppy beverage” in 2009 and rekindled their friendship. Not long after, he was fully involved with the Band. As a result of their Two Hearted get together, Tom recruited Richard to guide the Band through an in-depth strategic planning effort. 

       Effective strategic planning requires an understanding of the current situation, a clear vision of where the organization wants to go, and a set of actionable plans to get there. These steps are hard work, and it took much longer than anticipated, but the Band did develop an effective strategic plan, and it has used the plan to guide important decisions and ongoing operations ever since. 

       Richard was born in Yorkshire, an area of England with a strong brass band history. He went to school only 5 miles from where the famous Black Dyke Mills was formed and continues after 167 years.

       His background is in engineering and business, spending 35 years at Detroit Edison/DTE Energy before retiring in 2007. After retirement, Richard has focused on using his business knowledge and experience to help non-profit organization by guiding them through the development of strategic plans.

       He joined the Board in 2011 and was elected Vice President in 2012.

       Marie Mehler has been a member of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band since 1998.  She performs on Bb soprano cornet and also serves on the Board of Directors.  She joined the Onsted MI High School Band as a 7th grader.  After graduation, she was a member of the MSU Marching Band and later the EMU Marching Band.  She was also a member of concert bands at both universities and the EMU Orchestra. Ms. Mehler has also performed with several community bands.   She is a retired educator from Wayne Westland Community Schools where she taught music and 7th grade math.  Ms. Mehler has also served as a church musician (organist, trumpeter, and director of vocal and handbell choirs).  

       Marie resides in Saline, MI where she enjoys traveling, horseback riding, gardening, needlework and reading books in addition to music.

       J. Richard Rowe is a graduate of Mahanoy Joint High School, Class of 1958 having participated in Concert Band, Orchestra, Marching Band, Brass Ensemble, District Festivals and All-State Festivals. During his high school music career he earned the John Philip Sousa Award and the Maurice Taylor Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in the P.M.E.A Northeastern District Band in the State of Pennsylvania (1958). Richard earned B.M.E Degree from Wheaton College and M.M. Degree from the University of Michigan where he participated in Concert, Marching, and Pep Bands. He taught privately and in public schools in the states of Ohio and Michigan from 1963-1995.

       Mr. Rowe joined the Dodworth Saxhorn Band in 1989 and has served on the Board as Treasurer since 1994. He is also a member f the Silver Strings Dulcimer Society where he plays guitar. He lives with his wife and son on a small farm in Canton where he raises llamas and chickens.

       Joseph DeMarsh joined the Dodworth Saxhorn Band in 2013 where he plays the bass saxhorn. He has served as performance manager for the Band since 2017. He holds degrees in music education and tuba performance from the University of Michigan and taught instrumental music in the Ann Arbor Public Schools for many years. He has served as principal tuba of the Flint Symphony Orchestra since 1987 and is a founding member of Today’s Brass Quintet which has performed throughout Michigan since 1983.

       Gail Ferguson Stout lives in Ann Arbor. Gail is a writer and editor by training, with thirty years of experience as an arts administrator.  She is the current President of the Board of Directors of the Ann Arbor Civic Band.  Gail co-chaired the University of Michigan Marching Band Elbel Club Victors for Michigan Campaign and continues as a Board member of that organization.

       Though new to the Dodworth Saxhorn Band family, Gail has been a Director on the Board of the University Musical Society since 2016.  She completed two terms as a member of the UMS Ambassadors, leading the organization in 2012/13 and serving on every committee, including chairing the Ford Honors Program Committee in 2015.  Gail with her late husband John W. Stout, who was president of a software development and staffing corporation and a composer and arranger of works for bands and orchestras performed around the world, have sponsored scholarships for the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance students, and sponsors UMS events, concerts, and the occasional Michigan Marching Band halftime show.  Gail continues that work, including support for commissioning projects, K-12 and University student support for many schools and festivals across the nation, and with several Detroit-based arts and arts education groups such as Crescendo Detroit and the Five Lakes Silver Band.

       Gail has served in many capacities for multiple arts organizations including UMS, the University of Michigan Band Alumni Association, University of Michigan Marching Band Elbel Club, Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates, the Ann Arbor Forsythe Music Department, the Ann Arbor Pioneer Band Association, the Dexter High School Band Alumni Association, the International Trumpet Guild, the Pioneer Orchestra Parents Society, the Henry Ford Community College Art Department, the Albion College Department of Music, and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.  She is an active musician (trumpet) in the Ann Arbor Civic Band and the University of Michigan Band Alumni Association Concert Band and Pep Band.

       She served as administrator for the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association from 1981 to 2003, coordinating every aspect of the organization’s district and state solo and ensemble and band and orchestra festivals, servicing 100,000 K-12 music students and their directors in Michigan’s schools each year, and continued her service to the organization on a contract basis until 2011.

       She is a lifetime member of Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Service sorority, and a lifetime member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Service fraternity in two KKY chapters: Kappa Chi, Albion College, and Nu, University of Michigan.  In 2018, Gail received the Tau Beta Sigma Kathy Stevens Award, recognizing outstanding individuals who have continued their service to Tau Beta Sigma and bands well beyond their undergraduate careers.

       Gail received her BA in Communication from the University of Michigan, where she served as Business Manager for the Michigan Marching Band and performed in every non-music major wind ensemble at the University of Michigan.  Gail’s daughter Lauren is the Director of Bands at Ann Arbor Tappan Middle School, and son Mike is a professor of history at the University of Texas-Arlington, where he lives with his wife Amber and daughter Madeline.

       David Jenvey is a lifelong resident of Ypsilanti, Michigan where he resides with his two cats Simon and Rocky. Performing since the age of 10, David has played for numerous churches and organizations throughout south east Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois including St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran in Livonia, Saints Peter and Paul in downtown Detroit, St. Francis Cabrini in Allen Park, and many many more. He has spent several years performing with Dr. Michal Burkhardt (artistic organ professor at EMU) at Michael’s church premiering numerous compositions of Michael’s on trumpet, percussion, and baroque recorder, in addition to compositions of his own.

       David studied trumpet under Kiri Tollaksen (a world renowned specialist in early music and former Dodworth member), Carter Eggers of EMU, and Dr. Ross Turner (Principal trumpet of the Windsor Symphony). During his time at EMU, David performed with the EMU Wind Symphony under Dr. Mary Schneider, and the EMU Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Kevin Miller.

       David has been a member of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band since 2016. He is also a cornetist with the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society in Ann Arbor, and a founding member of the Chicago Road Brass Quintet out of Saline, Michigan. David has also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as an auxiliary trumpet, taught private lessons at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor under Janice Sanders as well as the composer in residence for the school making custom arrangements for the orchestra, maintained a private studio and has had multiple students receive high marks at Solo and Ensemble Festival every year.

       David has had numerus small and large ensemble compositions premiered including several band and orchestra compositions at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, a Trumpet choir composition in Domersleben Germany, multiple brass quintet works, and some works performed by middle school and high school bands and orchestras in the area.

       Current work includes managing the Dodworth Saxhorn Band’s website, is a current member of various committees with the band, and is writing a method book for trumpet that is designed to be used with students form their first lesson in 5th grade through graduation from High School.