Trafalgar Boys Band, Oakville Centennial Celebrations, 1957
Description
- Media Type
- Image
- Item Type
- Photographs
- Description
- We know the Trafalgar Township Police Boy's Band was active in the 1950's but we don't know the year it started or who got it started. This photo was taken in the early 1960's because we know that is when Walt Wilson was in the band.
Burt Speck remembers playing bugle in this Band. He believes they wore a yellow belt about 4 or 5 inches wide, with dark blue or navy shirts and pants. They may also have worn police type caps as well as the helmets shown in this photograph.
They practised at Munn's School.
Burt remembers that, "the first parade (he) did was the Orange parade in Arthur." Although he doesn't remember the exact year it was likely in the 1950s.
He remembers later playing in Niagara Falls, NY where someone threw a hydro insulator and hit drummer Ted Waller on the forehead. Ted went down but the rest of the band had to keep marching and playing, a terrifying experience at a young age. Ted Waller later became a Trafalgar policeman.
The band was lead by John Robson and Harry Wilson who were Trafalgar policemen. Another Trafalgar policeman, George Stalkfish also helped to teach how to play the instruments.
Some of the band members at the same time as Burt were Howard Speck, Gary Nielson, Dunc Learmont, Jim Learmont, Lorne Sampson,Don Nealands, Harry Robertson, Tom Rankin, Bob Phillips, Bill Phillips, Ray Gronostay, Walter Wilson. Walter's younger sister, Elizabeth, was a majorette along with Jean Crutcher.
In this photograph, we see the colour guard with the band flags and the drummers waiting for the call to attention. Behind, the buglers can be glimpsed. The drummers are playing tenor drums which are large snare drums, and the bass drum, always a feature in a parade band, can also be seen. - Notes
- The Town of Oakville celebrated the centennial of its incorporation in 1957 with parades, the crowning of Miss Centennial, tree planting, the Lion's Club raffled off a car, and more, between June 29 and July 6, 1957. In this photograph, the Trafalgar Township Police Boy's Band waits to participate.
- Inscriptions
- Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Trafalgar boy's band Centenial June 30, 1957".
- Date of Publication
- 30 Jun 1957
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Burt Speck
- Local identifier
- TTRMW000187
- Collection
- Trafalgar Township Historical Society
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
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Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.50011 Longitude: -79.78293
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- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Recommended Citation
- Trafalgar Boys Band, Oakville Centennial Celebrations, 1957
- Contact
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Trafalgar Township Historical Society Sponsor: Jeff Knoll, Local & Regional Councillor for Oakville Ward 5 – Town of Oakville/Regional Municipality of Halton
