The Community Band
America's sweetest music often can be found at home
“We didn’t realize just how loyal our audience was until we built the gazebo,” says band director Natasha Proctor, who joined the band 28 years ago as a 13-year-old just learning the horn. “Until that time, we played without any shelter at all and would cancel concerts in rainy weather. Once we moved to the gazebo (in 1976), we decided to play in any weather, joking that we would be playing only to the occasional passing duck.”
But the band’s audience proved them wrong. People drove up, rolled down their windows, and honked their car horns in applause at the end of each number. “It proved to be a popular enough practice that some of our less ambulatory audience members stay in their cars even in good weather,” Proctor adds.
For the 4,310 people who call Bridgton home, the sound of their volunteer community band is as familiar as the quavering call of the loons that spend their summers nesting on nearby lakes—the same mountain-framed lakes that have long made this area a favored vacation spot.
The synergy between local people and those “from away” has much to do with the band’s success since its founding in 1938. Not only do the concerts provide entertainment for townsfolk and summer visitors alike, but band members hail from both camps as well.
“Our members come locally from southwestern Maine and southeastern New Hampshire towns, as well as summer ‘regulars’ from homes in Florida, California, New York, and Massachusetts,” Proctor says. “The band averages 30 members, but the actual number fluctuates each week as people are available to play.”
Monday evening rehearsals start in early May, and performances begin with the annual R.B. Hall Day concert, held the last Saturday in June to celebrate Maine composer Robert Browne Hall. From July until mid-August, band members perform on Wednesdays what they rehearsed on Mondays—12 different pieces each week. The annual Fourth of July parade and concert, plus several other community parades, round out the schedule.
“I’d say the core of the band, who will come when we start up (the season), will be people who have been there over 20 years,” says Dick Albert, who directed the band for almost three decades before handing the baton to Proctor last summer. It was a natural progression. His retirement as director coincided with his retirement as a music teacher in the local school district, a job that included introducing students—Proctor among them—to the band.
When they’re not playing, band members might be doctors, dentists, shop owners, teachers, or engineers, but each week, they share a few hours for their other passion: making music with and for their friends.
“These are dedicated people, dedicated to their love of music,” says Robert McHatton, chairman of Bridgton’s Board of Selectmen. The town of Bridgton sponsors the band, providing uniforms, the gazebo, and electricity for lights during the concerts: The players do the rest.
“They have a very modest budget,” McHatton notes. “The reason they play well together is that they’ve been together for years and years, and they have a lot of fun doing it. You can see that in the performances … individuals like the emcee always have a lot of laughter going on.”
Playing for fun
The band’s longevity also may rely in large part on its open-armed approach to new members. No auditions are necessary: You simply sit in, and if you think you can handle the music, you join.
“We’re a true community band,” notes Albert, who remains with the band, playing the flute. “I would never force anyone to perform until they felt they were contributing enough.” By welcoming all players to rehearsals, the band gives younger members who are still learning the instruments, or adults who may not have played for decades, an opportunity to practice.
Despite having lost some good players over the years because the band wasn’t polished enough, Albert believes their approach is the right one: The band plays for fun and for the community.
“It’s become a summer tradition for folks,” explains Bill Severance, manager of Lake Region Television, the community access channel serving the Bridgton area. The channel tapes most of the band’s performances and broadcasts them throughout the year, helping to keep summer alive even when snow blankets the hills. “Certainly, it means a consistency of some of the traditional values of entertainment, and that’s been passed along to a great degree from generation to generation.”
The performances are a favorite for many older folks, he notes. “It’s nice to be able to provide an alternative to them coming out and sitting on the grass or bringing lawn chairs, sometimes in inclement weather, to see and especially to hear the concerts.”
For Proctor, it’s the band’s ability to span the generations that’s most important. “Our audiences include senior citizens, families with young children, and a small contingent of very well-behaved dogs,” she says. “Many times as a player I have looked out across the lawn to see a young child dancing or marching to the music, totally oblivious to the smiles of the crowd.”
‘Pure enjoyment’
The band itself counts members who range in age from their pre-teens to their 80s, rounding out the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections. “Several of our adult members play along with their children,” she says, “and more than one member has brought visiting grandchildren to sit in for a week during a vacation visit.”
Dick Albert agrees. “When families were growing up, the father and mother might be in the band, and then their kids,” he explains. “That happened in quite a few families, passing down the generations.” And sometimes, it would even be the children who joined first, encouraging their parents to follow suit.
Debora Nyren, who has played primarily the clarinet in the band since her early teens, strongly encouraged music as she raised her own family. “It’s a wonderful outlet, even if they do nothing else but just play it for pure enjoyment,” Proctor says. Her daughter, Lisa, played with the band for four seasons before heading off to college, and son Patrick, 15, has played for the last three seasons, ranging from the clarinet to the saxophone, and from drums to brass.
“I play with a guy who’s in his 70s, and he’s just incredible,” Patrick says. “He’ll show me techniques in between songs. I’ve learned a lot from him and from just about everyone (in the band).”
Where it once was a marching band, now the Bridgton Community Band uses a flatbed trailer for parades, a nod to those whose age or health means that they can no longer march. “That way we can still keep our band together,” notes Debora Nyren. “The trailer does the work.”
Many of the band members play several different instruments, which also helps: You might start out with your main instrument, she says, but if there’s a hole, someone will go over and help out.
“Our local area has had a long tradition of involvement in the arts,” Proctor notes. “The band is a part of that tradition, providing a niche for the part-time musician who still wants an outlet for his or her creative talents. Even the amateur musician has a little voice inside that says ‘Gotta play!’”
For her part, Nyren notes that unless a musician is extremely successful and can play with an orchestra, regular outlets aren’t common. “If it wasn’t for this opportunity to play, the instrument would be collecting dust somewhere,” she says. “There’s not too many opportunities here to play and have fun with other people who enjoy music, and that’s the beauty of it.”
Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos
Related Stories
If you enjoyed reading this story, The Community Band, then you might enjoy these other stories.Discuss this Article
