We appreciate the support that big band music is getting on the South Shore. Come out to hear us every Thursday on the bandstand at 7 pm, weather permitting. If it is raining, then we perform in the Legion Hall on Pond Street.
The band had another successful "Spring Into Summer" dance at the Legion on June 9. We started the evening with 20 minutes of swing dance lessons and then with our downbeat at 8 pm, we kept the joint hopping for almost 2-½ hours. This event is our only internal fund raiser and we were able to meet our objective for 2018. Coming up will be our summer series of concerts on the Mahone Bay Bandstand as well as a couple of local parades.
We appreciate the support that big band music is getting on the South Shore. Come out to hear us every Thursday on the bandstand at 7 pm, weather permitting. If it is raining, then we perform in the Legion Hall on Pond Street.
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The Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band wishes you and all your friends and relations a most healthy and happy New Year. We hope that in 2015 all your wishes come true -- especially if one of them is to attend our "Spring Into Summer" dance in June. We will send out details once the date and time are confirmed.
Our year has been a good one, but not without its bumps. Our dance was held early this year, in May, due to renovations at the Legion; but now that the new washrooms and entrance are finished, it will be a even more pleasant place to celebrate special birthdays or just get together with friends for some good music and fun dancing. We participated in fewer parades this past summer, but for the first time in 3 years we were not rained out for the Big Ex parade in July. Our second appearance at the Liverpool Privateer Days was well received and they have enthusiastically promised us a return invitation in 2015. We also played at a fund raising dinner in Liverpool. Our bumps had to do with several band members who struggled through ill health, but we are happy that all have returned to the band for this coming year. We changed Directors in the fall, since our new Director had come to realize he could not offer the amount of time needed to properly lead us and still look after his family! David Friendly, formerly our first trumpet player, has stepped into the Director role and we were ready for and very well received at our two Christmas concerts (Mahone Bay Father Christmas opening and Rose Bay concert with the Riverport and Area Community Choir). David's next project is to work with our Librarian, Bob Weld and our musical chart resource Alfie Lohnes to rebuild our repertoire so that when you come to the dance or over the summer to the Mahone Bay bandstand, you will hear some new (old) tunes. The band is pleased to report that we had a financially successful year and we will therefore be able to increase our donation to the Mahone Bay Legion. The members of the band wish everyone a very Happy New Year with hopes that music can always have a place in your hearts and your lives, and that we can continue to fill that space. The Mahone Bay Centre has planned a full summer of activities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the building, which began its life as a school and was saved from ruin by the many dedicated volunteers who pushed for the development of a community centre that would provide a hub for activities by varied groups from in and around Mahone Bay. This celebration will include a display of photos, commentary, artifacts and memorabilia, including a commemorative quilt prepared by the Mahone Bay Quilters Guild. The evening opens at 6 pm with a wine and cheese reception. Music begins at 7:30, featuring our own Swing Band along with the Bayview Community School Band. We will take turns playing songs from every decade since the founding of the school. Some of these will see the massed bands joining together to give you that full sound you all love to dance to! Admission to the event will be by donation. Come out and support the Community Centre and your two community bands. You won't be disappointed. It's here... our traditional "Spring Into Summer Dance", once again featuring Maritime singer-songwriter LAURA SMITH. Mark May 17 (8-11 pm) on your calendar. Tickets are now avaialble from band members, at Kinburn Pharmasave in Mahone Bay and at the Mahone Bay Legion (downstairs). This is our annual fund raising dance, so this is your chance to come out and support your local big band. Tickets are only $10! The Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band is about to welcome spring -- if it will ever start! We will do it in our normal style, with the Spring Into Summer Dance at the Legion on Pond Street on May 17. Yes, a bit earlier this year, since they will be starting some renovations at the Legion soon after.
When tickets become available, our loyal mailing list will hear about it first. This year, you will be able to reserve tickets by e-mail and they will be held at the door. We also hope to have them sold at the Legion bar downstairs. And of course, you can still get them at the Kinburn Pharmasave. Mark your calendar right now and save the date. Tickets will still be only $10 per person -- the best night's entertainment deal on the South Shore. Table snacks and a cash bar make sure you can keep up your dancing energy. And, lest we forget, LAURA SMITH rejoins the band for this dance, and has been rehearsing very hard with us over recent weeks. The Spring Into Summer Dance opens our busy season. Tell your friends. Invite them and form a table of 10 (reserve by e-mail). It is very easy for them to sign up for the newsletter (click here>>). The season will continue with our regular gig at the NSCC Convocation in June, followed by Privateer Days in Liverpool and our annual appearance in the New Germany Canada Day Parade. In January, Adam McConnell joined the Swing Band as our second musical director since our conversion to big band format. With Adam has come some subtle changes to the band and we hope that this will be noticed in our playing. Adam brings his own style of directing and is already bearing down on us for music selection and playing quality. This man really cracks the whip! But he never stops laughing... Seriously, Adam brings his music education skills to the hall every week and is serious about us providing high quality music at all of our events. But he also wants each of us to continue to have fun doing it. We have purged our music files, tried out charts and decided to add to our repertoire over the coming few months, all leading to our annual fund raising dance: Spring into Summer, to be held May 17 at the Legion Hall in Mahone Bay. Adam intends to continue leading us in the traditional events we have attended, such as the New Germany Canada Day Parade, our private concert at Harbour View Haven and the weekly summer bandstand concerts on Thursday evenings in July and August. We have also just landed a private party gig, and we hope that we can make a very happy birthday for a very special fan. The band is still looking for a few eager players to fill out our ranks, especially in the trumpet and alto sax sections. If you are a medium level or higher player who loves the big band sound and want to continue playing -- or if you have not played for many years and realize that you are missing an essential part of your life without community-based music -- then come on out. Contact us and set up a week to drop by and meet the band, talk to Adam and sit in for a practice to see if there is that perfect Cinderella fit between you and the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band! But we'd rather rehearse. The band will spend the winter getting ready for our 2014 schedule of activities, which certainly will include a dance or two, plus starring in several of the local parades and festivals. By the time we reach the Mahone Bay Bandstand in July, we should have a whole new set of tunes to play for you... and maybe some of our old favourites. You won't catch us on any Florida beaches, but if you want to warm your hearts, pop by the Legion some Thursday night and watch as we get put through our paces learning these wonderful charts. The band has been practicing some new tunes and you will be the first to hear them if you plan to attend our fall dance on October 19. The Fall Harvest Dance is being run by the Mahone Bay Pool Society to raise funds for next summer's life guards. The cost of admission is $15 per person and there will be a cash bar as well as the usual table snacks. And, of course, you will be able to get those dancing shoes well worn on the wooden Legion Hall dance floor as we pick out tunes for our three sets, from 8 pm through to 11 pm. The Legion is on Pond Street in Mahone Bay. As usual, if you are 8 people or more and wish to reserve a table (will be held until 8:30), drop us a line at our e-mail address and we will be happy to do it for you. If you missed our last dance, you will be delighted with our new stage lights that add a mood as well as providing a bit more lighting for the tables. More than 150 people heard our sounds at the Mahone Bay Centre Neighbours Day. Many of them will likely want to hear more, so get your tickets early. They can be found at Kinburn Pharmasave (Mahone Bay), Ali' General Store (Blockhouse) and Kinley Drug (Lunenburg). Neighbour Day at the Mahone Bay Centre will take place on Saturday, September 28 from 11:30 am. There will be a pot luck lunch to welcome all newcomers to the area (from the last 2 years). The band will be playing at the event from 11:30 until 12:15. Other events include a review of what is coming to the Centre; meet and greet with local political personalities (there IS an election coming up, after all) and opportunities to sign up as a member of the Centre. Every Sunday in the summer months, the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society provides an hour of music on the Lunenburg Heritage Bandstand on behalf of the Town, the Board of Trade and a few local sponsors. Every few years, they invite the Mahone Bay Legion Swing Band to be on the roster, and this year is your lucky year! We will bring our favourites and toe-tapng tunes to the air of Old Town Lunenburg from 2-3 pm on August 25. The Bandstand can be found at the top of King Street in downtown Lunenburg. Do you have a favourite you would like to hear? Just e-mail us and make the request. If it is in our folder, we will play it. If it is not, you can sponsor us to buy the chart so that down the road we can play it for you. Charts usually cost about $100 each, and we try to keep our repertoire varied for the enjoyment of our regular followers who come to hear us each Thursday (July and August) on the Mahone Bay Bandstand or at our dances. If it rains on August 25th, we will still play, but in the United Church Hall on Lincoln Street. |
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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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