"SECTION

BEGINNING ITS 49th year of operation, the West Vancouver Band offers boys and girls from 10 to 19 years of age
the opportunity of learning the musical instrument of their choice and becoming part of a prestigious band that has

many awards and honors to its credit. (Mark Wamer photo)

And the band plays on

West Van Band tunes up for new season

The Music Man
himself might have
turned green with envy!
Only seventy-six
trombones led the big
parade in the popular
musical. If the West
Vancouver Band were
to gather all together
since their beginning,
the trombone section
might easily number a
thousand. Closely
followed by massed
squadrons of cornets,
clarinets, droms, and
even piccolos!

That's nostalgic fantasy of
course. The West Van-
couver Band has been a part
of the community co
1931. The several thousand
boys and girls who have
made up the band over the
years have scattered as
widely as 49 years will take
them.

But old band members
rarely forget the spine-
tingling thrill of being part of
something very special when
the conductor's arm comes
down and the band bursts
into Hfe. It’s one of the
major reasons for the lively
support that has been given
the West Vancouver Band

Association through the
years.

The West Vancouver
Band Association operates
on a cooperative basis
similar to that of the
preschool cooperatives.
There is a board of 14
members elected annually
by the parents of band
members. There is also an
active ladies auxiliary.
Fathers help too. Quite
literally, the whole family
gets in the act.

Band fees ($140 for juniors
and $160 for seniors) are
kept as low as possible so
that the opportunity to learn

to play is available to
everyone. The fee provides
music lessons at the bargain
rate of less than $2 a lesson.

Cost of music, uniforms,
tours and transportation are
borne in part by parents and
in a larger part by the funds
raised by the ladies’
auxiliary.

Formed originally to
provide a small boys’ band
for Victoria Day
celebrations, the
organization has grown to
five bands with a normal
complement of about 200

CONTINUED ON PAGE C4