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ftlo tm aooo raja rows wredneodey jwy 8- 1w7 acton citizent band plays prominent part in towns musical life with its own music centre burgeoning membership train ing program and plans to pro vide accommodation for girls acton citizens band is a worthy representative of actdn in area and local event scarlet coats shining brass martial music everyone loves a parade and every town should have a band actons band has been playing and parading since about 1875 there is some doubt about this exact date if may well have been earlier but solid evidence places the bands be ginnings not later than 1875 thus acton citizens band is one of the oldest and most venerable institutions- in the town and to day it is still active anil thriving producing musicians or tomor row j the band was toundetl by a real musical enthusiast john mill away back in those early days john hill operated a store in acton and for many years ap parently bandsmen musical in- strumentsand trade goods com peted for the space in his prem ises in later years he moved the band to more adequate quar ters in the sons of temperance hall for the regular practices it was here that he instructed many of the boys of the town in the finer points ot playing a mus ical instrument onestory from his days as bandmaster tells of acton band taking fifst prize at the county fair agairjst- compet ing bands from noryal milton and oakville the coveted first place was won in pari through a special arrangement of the queen which john hill had pre pared for the event another story tcljs of him catching a young lad pounding on the door ol the hull during a practice the would be mis chief maker was subsequently converted into one of the lines drummers the band ever had the foundations john hill laid were solid ones and many of his boys as men kept the band alive through the years they in turn have passed along john hills traditions so that these come still fresh to the young players in training today one of jojin hills boys was charles mason who was an ac tive bandsman until shortly be fore his death he has a special place in the memories of many present day band members back in the early 1940s the band almost ceased to exist younger men had gone off to war and older members of the band found it too difficult to carry on all by themselves char lie gathered together a group of about 25 young boys secured the band instruments and a small donation from council and giv en its blessings started a band with much courage and ener gy a great deal of patience and hard work and a gentlemanly damn or two he made a band this boys band soon became a boys and girls band and it played for many a parade and garden party in acton and the surrounding countryside the crowning achievement of this band and charles masons work came when he led it to a first place in its class at the canadian national exhibition in 1947 unfortuttattry as always hap pens the boys and girls grew up and left town for schooling or jobs and the band rapidly dwin dled these boys and girls how ever had received a priceless legacy of training from char lies boys have come a veterinar ian a doctor two lawyers two phj4 in science two chemists newspaper editor and a lieut commander in the navy to men tion a few the others boys and girls have become worthy citi zens making contributions in service and public responsibility far above the average in their communities not all of the boys left how ever some stayed and these en thused with the traditions of band music in acton reorganiz ed the band into its present day form they brought some of the old members out of retirement scouted out new members and proceeded to train a new crop of boys charles mason retired as the bandmaster although he contin ued as an active playing member of the band his experience and knowledge were made use of in subsequent years as he served on the band executive in his place as bandmaster in 1950 came a h perrott3 very fine musician with many band championship honors to his cred it as leader of the lome scots regiment band he in turn led the band competitions of the waterloo music festival and continued as bandmaster until sickness forced his- retirement dr george fiiiott one of those who obtained their first band training under charles mason now leads the local organization actons citizens band today has 32 members in its senior sec tion 12 of them teenagers and 13 in its intermediate group the intermediate vounglers with a sprinkling ol adult learners wih very shortly have completed two years ol training to become lull- ileged senior band members twelve beginners have started training on various instruments and will evcnlirillv join the sen ior band more beginners will be lakcn inlo classes as more in- mrummis become available the band is supported by the municipal band tax bylaw which allots onehall mill on the general rate towards support ol a band this linancial sun- port has permillal ihc band lo continue and expand its pro gram of musical recreation it can offer as many boys and men as are interested free use of a musical instrument and free tu ition on that instrument acton cmzms iano kays at omnino of umaiy the band is dedicated to two purposes its first and most im portant one is that of offering in the community musical rec reation fir those citizens young and old who enjoy and profit from it its second and perhaps no less important function is that of supplying music for par ades civic functions and con- certs in the community but what of the future the band has r construc tion and development of a com munity music centre and park this music centre perhaps un ique in its design and economy of construction- being primar ily used for the bands own prac tice and instruction classes it is also being used as well for musical entertainments and recitals of all kinds and is de signed with ihis object in view the music centre is now serving even in its unfinished condition as a centre for social activities and banquets for many com munity groups the centre has an outdoor concert platform at tached to it and when develop ment of the park is completed will be an ideal location for out door summer band concerts pic nics and garden parties the band through its expand ing training program hopes to have a fully developed concert band of 50 members by its cen tennial year in 1975 in addition a junior band of 25 or 30 players is envisioned the instruction program as it is now being de veloped makes use of many of the regular band members as beginning instructors for three to five players for a period of a year at this time the bandmaster takes over and develops the whole group of beginners to sen ior band standards the band executive is also considering a program which will include girls activities until now this has been impossible with facilities at the music centre available more concrete plans can be de veloped the band has also discussed ways in other types of musical recreation in the community might be sponsored and encour aged perhaps this will be a meld for future expansion of band ac tivities as the band enters its 92nd year its members cannot help but feel that if john hill could return among them he would soon be at home in his old band his work has been carried on today we have acton citizens band an organization proud of its past and full of enthusiasm for the challenges of its future- suppliers of lumber building supplies v j b mackenzie son ltd general contractors i i i i i i two locations to serve you better georgetown i jamb stftht phoni 1772207 acton 12 church st phone 1531660 serving the georgetown and acton area since 1900 allont w opening of new hydro building hi iqnn new for acton commission opening of the new hydro building on alice st this year was the culmination of years of preparation and planning by members of the acton hydro electric commssion j most boards would be content to sit back take off their shoes and look back at the work they have done not the acton com mission theyre planning phead how for expansion they know lo come to acton is going antici- chalnnan ted tyler pates the erection of a npw sub station will be necessary and of course rebuilding of lines when the demand exceeds the present capacity instead of waiting until these needs are right on the doorstep the commission intends tojplarf their money need ahead j this way they hope to avoid making the issuing of debentures neces sary i well do it the sensible way and save the taxpayers money said the chairman at a recent meeting the centennial year commts- sion is composed of chairman t tyler doug dawkins wilf mc- eachern orville brown and mayor les duby highlight of the year for the commission was the opening of the new hydro building when the ontario hydro chairman george gathercole assisted in the ceremonies although preliminary plans for a new hydro building start ed in 1962 it was not until 1964 the commission hired an archi tect to draw plans tenders were called on two occasions in 1965 on both occasions they proved in excess of anticipated costs the commission finally was able to come to an acceptable alternative with architect and contractor in 1966 and plans soon developed into actual con struction as well as keeping a close tab on the maintenance of all power lines the works department as sists the town work force in tree trimming and also installing flags on lightstandards for spec ial occasions the cost of this is absorbed by the commission maintenance on the town street lighting system is all handled by the hydro department and the cost is charged back to the town at the present time the com mission serves 1247 domestic 71 commercial and 40 industrial customers with a staff of six the system now includes two transformer stations and 19 mil es of line within the town limits commiision members attend conventions during the year to keep abreast with the hydro pro- gram and discuss problems with other commissioners- which are relevant to problems encounter ed here the work force also attend workshops in order to keep uptodate on the latest techni ques in coping with power in stallations and all phases of their work the mission is citizens council r tv they cerned relations dustry citizens mission1n erland nielsen mckenzie hinton e gov j t a duby cent feels that with the the same present first mission range for purchase farm kind and the to actons and canadian e expo architecture unbelievable expo accommodations meals expo express fast la jeune hue dans la miniskirt expo grounds immaculately clean royal canadian legion choraliers best they ever performed mexican pavilion and street band bell telephone pavilion too fantastic expo employees pavilions lar0nde pnu4 tc fa a tyler pcv class a c service that satisfies since 1929 school bus service charter bus 8531550 acton