Join us at the Bandstand on Main Street from 7-8 pm this and every Thursday through the month of August. (Rain venue is the Legion on Pond Street.)
On August 1, Laura Smith will re-join the Band to sing a few songs with us, as she has been doing over the past few years. Laura has helped us out at several dances and tries to get to the Bandstand Concerts when she can, given her ever-increasingly busy schedule.
Join us at the Bandstand on Main Street from 7-8 pm this and every Thursday through the month of August. (Rain venue is the Legion on Pond Street.)
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For the second year in a row, the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band has had to drop out of the Bridgewater Big Ex Parade due to rain. We can handle a sprinkle, but downpours and saxophones do not mix. Not to mention the amount of water a tuba can collect in that rather large upwardly pointing bell. Add some soap and we would have a wonderful bubble machine! Apparently, the parade is going on, rain or shine. (Last year, they postponed it.) If there is a postponement, we will alert everyone through this blog, but for now, another year without our wonderful sounds in the city of Bridgewater! Once again, the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band has been invited to play at the Big Ex Parade in Bridgewater July 23. The parade starts at 6 pm and winds its way through old Bridgewater, beginning at the NSCC campus and ending at the Big Ex stadium. We will keep the music hopping and this year we hope that rain does not spoil the parade. (Last year it was postponed a day and we were not able to re-arrange our schedules to be there.) Other than our regular Thursday evening concerts on the Mahone Bay Bandstand, this is your only chance to hear the band in July. Our next public appearance will be on the Heritage Bandstand in Lunenburg on August 25 at 2 pm. Check out our full schedule to the end of the year on our EVENTS PAGE.
Our summer season is upon us, and there will be plenty of opportunities to see and hear the band. Our kick-off begins on Saturday, June 15 as we anticipate the solstice with our "Spring Into Summer" annual joint fund raising dance at the Legion. You can get all the details on our poster and by reading the previous blog. Then the parade and bandstand season really gets into high gear. On June 22 we will be under the big top at the Liverpool Privateer Days beginning at 1 pm, right after the parade. July 1st at 2 pm finds us once again in the Canada Day Parade in New Germany. We have played there for many years running and love that event. Later in July, we repeat the performance for the Big Ex Parade in Bridgewater. This is an evening parade, starting at 6 pm. And of course, no summer would be complete without our bandstand performances in the centre of Mahone Bay, right beside the harbour. They are from 7-8 pm every Thursday, weather-permitting, and are provided free of charge to the Town of Mahone Bay and any listeners who love to sit and tap your toes, or feel free to dance on the grass.
Every June, the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band holds a swing dance at the Mahone Bay Legion to raise money for our annual projects. Our fans have helped us improve our sound over the past two years as we were able to purchase pick-ups, amplifiers, speakers and better microphones. The goal for this year's dance is to raise $1000 for a new lighting system that will make it more enjoyable for our guests to PARTY! And in good faith, we have already bought the lights. That way, you can enjoy the fruits of your contribution right away. How about that for instant gratification? Join us June 15 from 8 to 11 at the Mahone Bay Legion as we play your favourite tunes from the 30s right up to the 1980s. We have bought new music over the past year, so you will hear many new selections from the big band era, the Latin sound and early Rock. Tickets are $15 or only $20 per couple. Pair up. Bring your friends. Reserve a table (for 10). Send us tune requests (at this link). Honour someone's birthday or anniversary. Practice what you are learning in dance class. (The Lunenburg Boscawen Inn dance class will be in attendance.) As they used to say in the 50s...."Be there, or be square"! The MBLSB has been invited to play at the Bridgwater Regimental Ball on April 20 at the Best Western Plus and Convention Centre off Exit 12. We have agreed to do this community benefit in support of the Sgt Derek Burkholder Trust Fund. The band looks forward to entertaining the guests during the cocktail hour and to performing the required dinnertime regimental marches as well as a few of our standard swing tunes during the meal. Who knows, maybe we will gain a whole new following for our regular dances! Years ago the Ball was a way of celebrating the uniformed forces in and around the Bridgewater area, and today that holds true; but it also includes a way of raising some funds for the Sgt Derek Burkholder Trust Fund. Sgt Burkholder was a RCMP member in Bridgewater who was killed in the line of duty. Last year they raised over $2000 to fund scholarships for post secondary education. It is Friday noon and the storm is getting closer! What is billed as a major nor'easter is the confluence of two storms -- a prairie clipper from Ontario and a Texas cell coming up through New England. The two are expected to merge over the Maritimes and come with very high winds, which makes driving too dangerous -- even to come dancing. We are not sure what the Mahone Bay and Area Pool society will decide about a reschedule, but the Band has reserved March 16 as a possible substitute. Change out the red to green and we are there! In the meantime, get your supplies, hunker down and enjoy the white stuff. Well, it is that old fashioned romance time of the year again; and once again the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band will be playing at a fund-raiser for the Mahone Bay and Area Pool Society to help raise money for their summer swimming program. This program is a HUGE benefit to the Town of Mahone Bay and its outlying areas/residents and is well-worth your support. In addition, you get a fun-filled night with great music, snacks, a cash bar (to raise money for the Legion) and the best workout this side of Halifax! The band has been working hard on its repertoire so that you will be able to hear toe-tapping versions of the early big-band years as well as popular and even some rock and roll numbers. There is the always favourite "Two O'Clock Jump" that has become our signature piece. Sway to "Sway" and waltz to "Fly Me to the Moon". Remember the 50s to "At the Hop" and weep at the memories of "Over the Rainbow" as sung by our own Janice Rogers. Treat your honey to a great night out and return home with a smile as you warm up for Valentine's Day in style. Invite your friends and e-mail us to reserve a table (for 10). If you buy your tickets in advance, you can get a couple's discount of $25. Tickets are $15 per person and either single or couple tickets can be purchased at several outlets (see locations here) or if you wait until the night of the dance, single tickets are $15 at the door. To see a report of the dance in the local paper, check out the Progress Bulletin. The Chester Brass Band is working with the Dalhousie Health Professionals Chorale to put on its second annual "Harmony & Hope Concert for Cancer Research" benefit at the Saint Andrew's Units Church in Halifax. The music will be top notch and serves a good cause. All proceeds go to the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute's Research Training Program. You can attend the concert, make a donation on-line or sponsor a "gracenote" in the program (only 14 available for only $50 each). If you are a business, you may also purchase advertising in the program or sponsor the concert outright. There is only 1 Gold Sponsor opening left! |
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AuthorDavid Friendly was the President of the MBLSB from 2011 to 2013 and is the current Web Master and blog editor. He has played bugle, trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn since 1958 and is currently the band leader as well as playing flugelhorn with the Chester Brass Band Archives
June 2018
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