Hartland Clubb, Jr.
President (Delta, 2010)
Hartland Clubb, Jr., current VSA Board President and owner of Clubb’s Stores in Delta, has been an active member of the VSA in various ways for decades. He played trumpet with the orchestra from 1981-1986, has been singing with the chorus since 2004, and serving on the board since 2010.
He hails from a little town south of St. Louis, MO, as his father’s travels with Ben Franklin stores took the family from there to Southern California and finally, in 1967, back to Colorado, Hartland Sr.’s original stomping grounds.
Music was an important part of the Clubb family. Hartland’s mother -- a teacher, pianist, and church organist -- began her children’s music education with basic theory and piano before they even started attending school. “When band was offered in 4th grade, it wasn’t ‘if,’ it was, ‘what instrument?’” Although he started out with a $20 flute, “When I discovered that a trumpet made a lot more noise with only three valves, the Boehm system keys and open-holed stick was history.”
He played through high school in Delta. At CSU, he studied trumpet and performed with the CSU Brass Choir, Wind Ensemble, and was principal trumpet with the University Symphony and Opera Orchestra in 1972 and 1973. When moved to Gunnison in 1974 to manage his father’s second Ben Franklin store, “I soon met John Kincaid, the brass professor and director at Western State, who allowed and encouraged me to schlepp in and out of many groups at the college.”
Hartland has fond memories of his time with the orchestra. “We had a particularly active brass section, including Keith Cochrane, Ed Horton, Paul Good, and other excellent musicians, who organized events to play with the orchestra and some small ensembles up and down the river corridors until 1986.” In 1985, he met the love of his life, Michelle Stitzer, introduced by current VSA principal trumpet Dave Reddish. As their family began to grow, time no longer permitted the orchestra. Marion and Nancy Hofman, charter members of the VSA, encouraged Hartland to join the chorus in 2004 where he’s been contributing musically ever since.
Outside of his musical endeavors, Hartland is a proverbial pillar of the Delta community, given his family’s entrepreneurial presence for decades, as well as having served on the Delta Chamber of Commerce board, several advisory groups with retail organizations, and as the president of Our Redeemer Lutheran Congregation.
Hartland leads by example within the ranks of the VSA, too. “The VSA is an example of what can be done when a small group of determined individuals set their mind and hearts to the cause.”
We thank Hartland for sharing himself with the VSA; we are richer for his presence.