Harry Louis Wolf is a preservationist and active member of the community. He is the founder and leader of the Waterloo German Band, which he founded at sixteen, which has gained a large following and has played at festivals around the nation and in Germany. They also play at Waterloo events and organizations, including hospitals, schools, and nursing homes. For his involvement with the band, he has been nominated for the German government's highest honor for an American, the Der Verdienstorden Bundesrepublik Deutschland Medal. Mayor Thomas G. Smith calls Harry "a generous man who unconditionally shares his heart and talent as a musician and goodwill ambassador."

In addition to his musical activities, he was a charter member of a local restoration group responsible for saving the Peterstown House, originally an inn and stagecoach stop on the Kaskaskia trail that now serves as a historical museum. He also arranged to give another historical museum in Waterloo World War II uniforms and historical memorabilia. He also collects numerous albums chronicling local Illinois history during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.