History of MACA

The Beginning...

A HISTORY OFMERRILL AREA CONCERT ASSOCIATION, LTD. (MACA)

BY DANIEL J LEIKIP

The Merrill Area Concert Association, Ltd. was originally formed on November 29, 1967, under the name "The Merrill Area Concert Association, with Harlan Becker its first president; Mrs. Lesli Trantow, Vice President; Mrs. David Finanger, Secretary; and Mrs. E.H. Edman, Treasurer.

The original purpose of the Merrill Concert Association, which remains the purpose to this day, was to bring professional musicians with the highest qualities available into the Merrill Community and to allow the community the opportunity to hear live professional concerts.

Arrangements were made with Allied Concerts, a booking agency out of Minneapolis, to provide the Board of Directors with a list of talent each year from which to select the following season's programs.

The first concerts that season were: The Classic Jazz Ensemble, Lyric Singers, Howard and Patricia Barr duo-pianists, and the Reyes-Soler Espanel Dance Troupe from Spain. The total budget for that year was $3050. The membership fees were set at $8 for an adult, $4 for students and $20 for families.

It was also decided to invite the Rhinelander, Medford and Antigo Community Concert groups to our programs on a reciprocity basis. That first year 400 adult memberships were sold, 68 family and 37 student memberships with a working budget of $4403.