What better way to spend Father's Day than with a picnic in the park, listening to some first-class music and enjoying a birthday celebration?
The New Westminster and District Concert Band is encouraging local residents to do just that.
The band is holding a concert at Queen's Park bandshell this Sunday, June 15 at 2 p.m.
Not only is it Father's Day and the kickoff for the city's outdoor summer concert series, it also happens to be a celebration of the band's 80th anniversary (and yes, you may expect cake).
"We encourage people to come, bring a picnic, use the barbecues ... make a day of it," says John White, director of the concert band society.
White leads the group's senior band - one of four groups that are part of the society. There's a beginner band, an intermediate band and a jazz band as well. All four groups will offer up pieces as part of the concert, and White is promising a diverse selection of music that will appeal to people of all ages.
A highlight of the concert will be a piece by the senior band that's a regimental march for the RCMP. Chosen to recognize the band's long association with the RCMP, the piece has now become even more meaningful.
"It now has more poignancy because of the incident in Moncton," White notes.
All told, the band family includes about 120 players from around the Lower Mainland, from new players up to those with decades of experience - ranging in age from a Grade 9 student to a player who's over 80 years old.
The presence of both youth and adults is a wonderful combination for the band, White says.
"They sit beside each other. The youth learn from the adults, and the adults gain that energy and enthusiasm," he says.
The senior band includes some music teachers, but for the most part the musicians are those who have gone on to do other things in their working day but still want to keep music in their lives.
"They're all playing at a substantially high level," White says. "The senior band is playing exceptionally well right now."
The band hasn't always included adult players.
In fact, when it began in the 1930s, it was the Royal City Boys and Girls Band, directed by Arthur Delamont. During the war years of the 1940s, it was a representative band for the Armed Forces under the direction of Fred Turner.
For most of its history it has been a community band for youth players - including during the 1970s, when White served his first stint as its director. He left in 1979 when he moved to Kamloops, but upon his return to the Lower Mainland he took up with the band again about a dozen years ago.
These days, band membership is open to players of all ages and skill levels.
The season is wrapping up now but will get started again in the fall.
The beginner band will be on hiatus this coming year, due to a lack of membership, but White says they're planning a push to recruit new members so that the beginners can return in the fall of 2015.
The intermediate band, directed by Kevin White (no relation to John), and the jazz band led by Adam Jones will be back alongside the senior ensemble.
Anyone who's interested in joining can talk to White to determine which band they should start with. From there, White notes, they can see which level is the best fit and move if the chosen group is too advanced or not advanced enough.
"Everybody has a spot," he promises.
For more about the band, check out www.nwdband.com or call John White at 604-788-1048.
