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St. Marys Community Band resumes practices, performances

The St. Marys Community Concert Band — I suspect some have seen our posters around town and notes and announcements in the newspaper over the last few years, but who are they?

As with most established organizations, the communities where the band gives their concert they are well known. A group made up of individuals from the surrounding counties of both West Virginia and Ohio. They range from high school to seniors, all professions, who have a love and history with music. A love and history that may have started as early as grade school and continue until graduation and possibly throughout college.

Most of the musicians in the band, except those who’s working career was in music, stop playing and put their instruments away to only collect dust over the years as they each pursued careers in their chosen profession. The latter situation is one that I followed, until six years ago I moved to Washington County. As I started acquainting myself with my new location and doing the daily drive to and from work, I encountered an individual who was a member of this community band. New to the area, I never heard of them and was reluctant to pursue this adventure since I had not played for a long time. This individual, a clarinetists, was relentless and recited their busy life story and how they came back to play after a long absent to music.

This started me thinking and I looked into this band and attended one of their concerts. That fulfillment one has when you play your instrument and the satisfaction knowing you just given your best in a performance, enjoyed, and appreciated by those attending, rekindled. The rest as they say is history and now, not only am I a member of the St. Marys Community Concert Band, but I also play in two other bands and enjoy the challenge and excitement with each rehearsal.

I hope what you take from this short narrative is that if you have played in the past, there’s a very good chance if you allow yourself the opportunity you would enjoy doing so again. Those skills that you once demonstrated years before quickly come back to you and with each rehearsal are sharpened and refined.

The St. Marys Community Concert Band wants to add new musicians to the band. All instruments are needed and all skill levels are accepted, know with each rehearsal those latent skills become more automatic each time. If you the reader or someone you know have had the experience of playing a musical instrument please consider or ask you’re someone to take the time to remember the pleasure of being a part of a musical group, playing for the pleasure of the audience.

To start you only need to show up for band rehearsal on Tuesdays starting March 7, bring your instrument and the desire to play.

The band meets once a week each Tuesday and rehearses from 7 to 9 p.m. at the marina in St. Marys, W.Va.

The concert season starts in March and completes in December with a Christmas concert, with a short break mid-summer. For additional information about the band or a request for contact email: fozbar@exede.net, keeling.christine@yahoo.com, veburton@suddenlink.net

Submitted by Christine Keeling of Watertown.

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