Levin Municipal Band

In May 1945 a public meeting was held supporting the revival of the band. A committee was formed on April 24 1946 with Mr H Langtry as president and Mr R A Fredrickson as treasurer to help the band to re-form. The instruments had been returned from the Air Force. The pre-war balance was £37. Mr G R Lester was appointed conductor. The borough council approved a grant of £150 to pay for the part-time conductor. In May a citizens' committee was formed to help the Band and to raise finance. There were 18 members at the first practice, all of whom were experienced players. The band made its first public appearance after re-forming on Sunday July 24 1946.

In October 1946, a set of officers' uniforms (blue) was procured from the NZ Air Force. A shop day raised £230 in conjunction with a street day. At Christmas 1946, in conjunction with the Horowhenua Pipe Band, carolling was played collecting £31.

The Levin Municipal Band featured at the Waiterere Beach Boxing Day RSA carnival along with the Horowhenua Pipe Band.

For many years the Boys Training Farm Band was Levin’s unofficial band. In May 1947 the reformed Municipal Band gave their thanks to the Boys Training Centre (now Kohitere) by playing a concert there.

The Band held its first ball in September 1947. The Feilding Junior Band and the Levin Municipal Band marched to the Regent Hall to attend the event.

The first competition since recess was entered at the Manawatu Brass Band Association at Palmerston North in October. Levin won the C grade, but scored higher marks for military neatness than the B grade bands. Levin came first in the quickestep section, with their lively rendition of The Captain. They were second in the selection section with their New Rochdale selection. They managed a last equal placing in the hymn section playing Knight Errant.

In conjunction with the pipe band and marching teams, the Levin Municipal Band held a street and shop day in October raising £204. In November the borough council banned all bands from playing in Oxford Street to avoid disruptions to traffic. It was suggested that bands play in the Regent hall with windows open so the music could waft out into Oxford Street.

There are no records of the Levin Municipal Band activities available from 1948 to 1953.

For many years the band committee had three borough councillors on it, one acting as president. The Band's treasurer was the town clerk Mr Jenkins from 1923 onwards.

Mr W J D Allan was the president in 1953 and Mr Colin Banfield was the conductor.

Bandmaster was Mr A Dowd, Mr George Bignal being Sergeant and Mr J Collett secretary. During 1954 an E flat soprano cornet was bought for £42. The conductor was paid an £150 honorarium a year. A band day was held in the Park Domain with Palmerston North City Silver Band and Lower Hutt Band attending with the Levin Band.

The Regent Theatre, through Mr Badland, put on a picture benefit for the Band realising over £70. The film screened for the occasion was I’ll Walk Beside You.

In 1955 Mr G A Lee was secretary. Mr Banfield retired at conductor and Mr Lester took over again. Main playouts for the year were at the Public Gardens, Otaki Sanatorium and at the Levin races. Mr R J Chivers was secretary in 1956 and 1957. Glyn Hawthorne was entered in the Napier Solo Cornet contest in 1956 or 1957 but there was no uniform small enough for him so he was sent to Mr A W Allen’s to have one made. No record has been kept about how well he played at the contest. The Band was entering contests frequently but very poor records have been kept on how well they performed.

A bottle drive realised £51 profit in 1957. Mr Lester resigned during 1958. Mr J Harrison took over and was elected conductor in June 1958. Mr Collett was secretary then and Mr Banfield became conductor again in 1959.

At the contest at Wanganui the Band gained highest points in the selection and third in the hymn test. A full set of wooden music stands was bought during the year. At the Christchurch Solo Contest Mr Paul Jensen gained fifth place in the Cornet test.

Recordings were made of the Band’s playing in 1960. Some 200 records were bought for bandsmen to sell. In a report of the Christchurch Contest the band gained sixth place in a field of 12. There were 25 playouts during the year, including some for the Old Folks Association. The Levin Band joined the the NZ Brass Bands Association new scheme as a full member.

A bazaar held in 1961 yielded a £70 profit. The set of 25 reconditioned Besson instruments arrived from Reynolds of England costing £1057.

Mr Banfield resigned as conductor after 13 years as a member and conductor. Mr George Lester resigned after 40 years as a member with a large proportion of that time as the conductor.

The old set of instruments was sold to St Patrick’s college. The band had paraded 35 times during the year.

At the Central District Contest it had gained second in the hymn test andthird in the march. At the annual meeting in July Mr R Hayfield was elected conductor until a new one was appointed. Mr J Taylor arrived in December to take over the conductorship of the Band.

A ladies committee was formed in 1962 to assist the band generally and to help raise finance. A new side drum had been bought costing £34. A Band day had been held during the year with the Horowhenua Pipe Band.

In 1963 ranks appointed were Bandmaster Mr G Lawton, Sergeant Mr V Kaye, Corporal Mr G Sisson. A baby photo competition was held that year yielding a good profit.

The year 1963 also brought a big problem. The borough council wanted the bandroom shifted so the new library could be built, with the band committee bearing the cost. It was shifted to the west side of Domain on Weraroa Road. The cost and upgrading of the building was a very heavy on the finances of the Band. Relations with the borough council which had supported the Band in many ways for 40 years became very strained owing to the difficulty of the committee of upgrading the building for several years. The issue dragged on into 1966 with the council delaying the annual grant of £200 until the building was finally renovated. The committee had spent £1000 on the building causing a large bank overdraft for many years. Being on borough reserve the bandroom was in reality owned by the council.

Mr E Tombs was secretary in 1965 and for some years after. There was apparently a radio broadcast by the Band that year as indicated by an overdue account to the NZ Broadcasting Commission.

The controversy over the bandroom continued over in 1967 with the council gifting it to the band and severing its links and controls over it. The management committee was formed from representatives from the Band, the ladies committee and any supporters who wished to be on it, subject to election.

There is another gap in the records from 1967 to 1976 but some memories fill in some details.

The reconditioned set of Besson instruments bought in 1961 did not wear well. The metal was very thin probably owing to having been acid treated in cleaning. Some doubt was raised if all the instruments had been reconditioned when a London bus ticket blew out of one instrument when it was first blown. A full set of Yamaha instruments was bought in 1970.

The Bavarian Band, a section of the Levin Municipal Brass Band, was formed about 1975 to play at public functions. The pitch of the instruments had been lowered which had been done worldwide to make band instruments more compatible with other musical instruments. The Bavarian Band had distinct uniform of of short trousers, leather braces, shirts and feathered hats.

About the same time women players joined the Band. Miss Heather Gibson was the first. By 1976 four women were in the ranks. Mr V Kaye was president with Mr G Lawton secretary. Mr J Taylor was still conductor. Other Band officers were deputy conductor Mr G Lawton, Drum Major Mr A Strickett, deputy Drum Major Mr J Fenn who was also Sergeant, Corporal Mr J Stanley-Joblin, Lance Corporal Miss Heather Gibson.

At the contest in Christchurch the Band was first in the hymn test and second in the quickstep in C grade. Levin hosted the Central Districts Association Contest in October but no results were recorded.

Mr Taylor resigned as conductor in January 1978. He was praised for his work with the Band for so long, and for his role as a guiding light. Mr J Simmons took the position on a temporary basis.

Mr D Mercer was elected president in July 1978 with Mrs N. Davies as secretary and treasurer. Other changes were Mr G Pointon as Drum Major, Mr S G Lawton as Lance Corporal.

At Otaki a tutoring school for young players was started. A move that was to bear fruit later to keep up the strength of the Band.

In 1979 one change was that Mr A Spence became Lance Corporal. At the Hamilton contest he became the amateur NZ champion in the cornet contest. Mr Robert Ghent was selected for the national Youth Band on tour.

In 1981 Mr G Lawton was elected conductor with Mr C Lawton as assistant conductor. Other officers were Drum Major Mr G Beissal, deputy Drum Major Mr J Fenn, Sergeant Mr R Harvey, Corporal Mr K Mercer, Lance Corporal Mr M Lawton.

The year 1982 brought a change with Mr R Ghent as deputy band master. Miss E Bolitho was elected secretary handing over to Mr E Tombs later in the year. Mrs V Feickert was treasurer.

The Band with the Salvation Army Band was involved with Telethon in 1983. It also played at Cobb and Co for the Telethon. Among many playouts was one at the Farewell to the Regent function. Several large grants of money from the sport and recreation fund in the years around this time were helpful to finances, as were grants from the borough council. Mr V. Roberts was accepted for the National Youth Band.

For 1984 Mr W. Mason became president and Mrs A. W. Harvey secretary. In the contest at Feilding the band was second in the Hymn test and fourth overall. At the National Contest at Nelson the band came second overall in C grade. The average age of the bandsmen was 20. All bandsmen were members of the Levin Band there being with no extra professional players used. Mrs May Bignal and Mr Les Peters were elected life members. Mrs Bignal had been very involved with the ladies committee. For very many years Mr Peters had a very long involvement with the band as player and supporter.

Mrs T Mason was elected president in 1985. Another change was that Mr W Hewitt became Lance Corporal.

Mr Graham Lawton resigned as conductor in April 1986 with Mr Chris Lawton taking over. Mr J Mason was appointed Lance Corporal.

The Levin Municipal Band Youth Trust was set up by Mr and Mrs Colin Canfield and their son Warwick. The object was to encourage junior members in musical advancement. With two other donations the capital was raised to $2000.

At the annual meeting tributes were paid to Mr Graham Lawton for his great work as player and conductor in the band for many years.

At the National Contest in Dunedin Mr Barry Mercer came fifth in the Open Trombone section and Mr Vaughn Roberts second in the junior cornet section. Both were selected for the National Youth Band.

Ever since its inception in 1912 finance has always been a problem for the Band. There was always a need for new instruments or uniforms and repairs to all equipment.

Many ways of raising money, apart from orough grants, were tried. Payments for playouts helped a lot. Street collections were always yeilded a profit as did shop days. Among other methods of raising finance were regular housie games for many years. Selling firewood, pine cones, pungas helped, along with painting fire plugs, doing car washes, selling fish and Christmas trees. Garage sales, selling at flea markets, growing sweetcorn for sale and innumerable other methods also raised money.

The ladies committee has always been a great help to the band committee in many ways including raising finance in large amounts of money. This committee was referred to as the backbone of the Band. At the last meeting of the committee in the minutes in July 1987 it was proposed that Mr Evan Tombs be elected patron. These minutes were the last available to me.

Related Items

• Levin Municipal Band
• Levin Districts and Brass Inc.