Bachelor’s brassy encores

Since 1984, when three high school pals founded the Balboa Bachelors Christmas Brass, the group’s performance schedule has revolved around the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.

On their initial outing, Randy Wallen, Jeff Gould and Eric Vandeveld took their two trombones and a set of drums down to Balboa Island and played their hearts out for $18 in tips.

The core group has grown to include three more trombonists. They come back to Newport Beach every Christmas to perform.

“Everything centers on the boat parade,” Wallen said.

The floating festival of lights began Wednesday and runs through Sunday.

In the early years, the Bachelors walked around Balboa Island, stopping to play for anyone who would listen.

The group’s modus operandi hasn’t changed over the years.

“Wherever there’s a person, we’ll play,” Wallen said, adding that every year there are unexpected and memorable moments.

“One year, it was late at night, and we stopped to play a Christmas carol for [a] couple on a bench. We played ‘Silent Night,’ and the man began sobbing because he had lost his mom the day before.”

Wallen said the group moves around during the week of the parade, playing on the dock as the boats come in, on the street along the parade route, and at private homes that ask them to stop by.

David and Kay Dahl live on Balboa Island, and met the Balboa Bachelors the first year they performed during the parade. The couple was hosting its annual Christmas party, but it was a rainy evening and many of the invited guests didn’t show up.

The Bachelors were walking on the sidewalk outside their home, the Dahls invited them to come inside, and the band has performed for them every year since.

“It’s been kind of fun. We’ve watched them mature and change into a group of fine young men,” David Dahl said.

The band’s members have changed over the years, as bachelors have become husbands and fathers, and schedules have gotten harder to arrange.

Wallen has never missed a year. Vandeveld will fly in from his home in Wisconsin, and there’s never a shortage of friends willing to fill in when someone can’t make it.

The Balboa Bachelors are committed to using their talent to give back to the community in many ways.

“I’m a big believer that you’re called to do certain things, and we’re supposed to be doing these things,” Wallen said.

In 1989, after one of their original members, Jeff Crist, died of leukemia, the group began performing for patients and staff at Hoag Cancer Center. They’ll be there at 9 a.m. Monday, visiting as many of the hospital floors as they can get to.

They’ll also make a special stop to play in Dr. Khosrow Mahdavi’s office. He’s the oncologist who treated Crist, and knows to expect the group every December. This is also the third year the band will play at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa.

Chuck and Maureen Peltzer live on Bayshore Drive in Newport Beach.

“The Boat Parade comes right up behind our boat,” said Maureen Peltzer, “and the boats stop and hold up the parade, because they can’t believe that they’re also being entertained while they’re on the water. The people in the boats cheer and clap for the little band.”

Wallen said it’s great when people recognize the group on the street, or stop him to ask, “Hey are you one of those bachelor guys?”

He may not be in high school any more, but Wallen said the group is going strong, and he’s planning on performing for many years to come.

“Maybe I’ll be an old man in a wheelchair, and my kids will be pushing me around, but I’ll still be playing.”

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at [email protected].