Wolverton Town Band

On the weekend of 26th and 27th of June we all trooped off to Belgium.

What a lovely hot weekend that was.  Unlike two years ago when it rained almost all of the time we were there, this year the Gods smiled down upon Wolverton Town Band and Ploegsteert Harmonies Band.

After an eventful coach ride down to ploegsteert, we were welcomed by old friends and new. After lunch in a local cafe, we were whisked off 500 metres to the rehearsal venue where we were due to be officially welcomed by the local Mayor.  being a Saturday and the fact that the Belgians seem to be almost as laid back as a limbo dancer, Mr Mayor was attending a wedding and was due to be considerably late. Mind you the "he will be here in 5 minutes" was heard more than once.

Unfortunately, due to the delay, we, the band, decided to get on with our rehearsal, but that meant that the visitors who came with us were unable to tour the local woods where there are a number of small four or five headstone graveyards.

Once Mr Mayor arrived and we had finished our rehearsal it was off to the hotel and a quick (very quick) wash and brush up before returning to Ploegsteert for the evening concert.

this turned out to be better than we expected, many preople commented on how well we had played and even went as far as to say we were better than two years ago. (It is always good to hear we are improving).

After a fabulous meal we returned to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

Sunday brought another bright sunny day, and after breakfast it was back off to Ploegsteert for the memorial for Albert French. A short piece played at the Cenotaph and The Last Post and then we turned round to face the grave yard to play the National Anthems.

Just down the road, was the venue for our Sunday short concert where we joined together as a massed band and played a few of the pieces from Saturday evenings concert.

Lunch was taken in the band room of the Chamonis Harmonies band. again we were treated to a wonderful lunch, before saying farewell to our friend and ddeparting for the UK.

 All in all a wonderful weekend which we hope to be making a little longer next time.

It is with much regret that I have to announce the unfortunate death of one our "Friends of the Band".

Mrs Margaret Ruggles (mother of Chairman Colin Ruggles) died suddenly at 09:30 on Wednesday 10th March 2010.

Some of you may know Margaret from the Christmas Concert in 2008 when she and her husband Charlie helped on the door taking entry and selling raffle tickets.

Margaret loved brass bands and followd Colin on his career through British Airways Brass Band, into the army and eventually to Wolverton Town Band, attending most of our concerts and indeed collecting at Tescos in 2008.

She loved Wolverton Town Band for our warm friendly atmosphere and she thought we could be as good as any band out there.

Yes believe it or not, Wolverton Town Band had our Christmas meal yesterday. We went to The Greyhound in Haversham. The only things missing were the crackers.

Thanks go to Hilary Saunders who organised the venue and sorted it so everything went smoothly.

The meal was very enjoyable and the company even more so. It was nice to see some of the trustees join us and I was very pleased to see a couple of the newer members of the band along with their families. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves.

During the meal, it was my pleasure to present the trophies and they went to three very deserving members of the band.

Roger Stevens, nominated Jonathan Francis for his choice as the Musical Director's player of the year for being both a great player, and flexible in that he has taken on the role of principal cornet, moving over from flugel horn. Many congratulations as Jonathan has now won this award twice running.

The Learner bandsman of the year was Nominated by Perry Harris and was awarded to Peter Thomson for his improvement throughout the time that he has been with us. Well done Peter keep it up.

The Player's player of the year this year went to Melanie Hill, our band secretary, nominated by ballot of all players. This was for her tireless work behind the scenes helping to make the running of the band a simple as possible. Melanie gives up a lot of her free time to prepare committee meeting minutes and correspond with prospective bookings. A well deserved award, congratulations.

Our next big adventure on the horizon will be our trip to Belgium, however, keep looking in at the calendar for forthcoming engagements.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Today saw our very first Christmas around the Christmas Tree in Wolverton.

Members of the band turned out from 3pm to 3:30pm to play carols around the Christmas tree in Wolverton Town Square. this was the first of, hopefully, a tradition that we can continue for years to come. Quite a few locals came along and sang merrily with us as we took them through a few well known carols along with a few Christmas songs for the younger members of the audience.

The feedback we got from those who came along was very positive and everybody seemed to appreciate us starting their Christmas celebrations to a climax before they wrap up warm and wait for the big day.

My thanks go out to all those in the band who have given up their evenings on some of the coldest nights for quite a few years, to make our carolling the success it has been.

Have a Very Merry Christmas and I hope we will all be around for a long and prosperous New Year.

Click here to see some photos

We had our Spring Concert last night, 29th March along with Wolverton Samba Band.

This was the first joint venture and it may well be lead to further joint concerts, possibly with the Samba Band coming to Belgium with us next year.

The Samba Band are very entertaining with their drumming rhythms.  Very enjoyable.

I would like to thank Hillary Saunders and her friends for providing such a variety of refreshments.

The finale to the whole evening was both bands playing Hawaii Five O. A loud and enjoyable piece. Click here to listen.

On the 28 Feb 09 Perry and Colin went along to Willen Hospice and handed over our donation for £150 (our fee from the Carols by the Lake event). We handed a Presentation Cheque to Julia Rogerson Willen Hospice's Promotions Manager.

Julia would like us to pass on her thanks on behalf of Willen Hospice and she said that no matter what size donation they receive, every cheque means so much to all those who use the facilities and services of the Hospice.