The CSB was privileged to support the Midland Corps, Ontario, in celebrating their 125th anniversary May 1-2, 2010. Majors Neil and Merrilee Evenden, corps officers, together with a team of faithful workers, had put a lot of planning and effort into the weekend and we were grateful for their organization. Guest leaders were Majors Raymond and Caroline Braddock, former corps officers, who brought their own unique touches to the various meetings.
Arriving by bus, we enjoyed lunch at the corps before heading to the Midland Alliance Church to set up for the evening concert. All morning it had been pouring rain, casting doubt on whether we’d be able to hold the scheduled outdoor events in the afternoon. But by 2:00 the rain had stopped and the open-air meeting at the town dock was able to proceed as planned. This was then followed by a march through the downtown streets, during which the sun came out from behind the clouds and bystanders happily greeted the site of the band followed by soldiers and friends of the corps.
It was then off to the corps anniversary dinner, held at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall in nearby Penetanguishene. An ensemble from the band provided a musical prelude and accompanied the singing, which was intermingled with greetings by civic leaders and speeches reflecting on the history of the corps. Unfortunately the proceedings ran a bit long, pre-empting the singing of O Boundless Salvation and making for a mad dash for the church in order to make our 7:30 concert starting time. With just a few minutes to grab our instruments and suit up in our red tunics, we just made it onto the church platform by 7:29.
A sizeable audience from the community added to visiting Salvationists and members of the local corps, and they were not to be disappointed. From the opening notes of the percussion section in Living Flame (causing at least one person to jump out of their seat and issue a loud exclamation), it was very evident that those present were not used to hearing a band of our size. It was going to be quite the night.
Highlights of the first half included staples of our current concert repertoire: Festive Overture, Canadian Folk Song Suite, A Joy Untold (featuring euphonium soloist Steve pavey), Dance Like David and Variations on Terra Beata. Then after a short intermission, the band played Hallelujah! and the march Lowell Anniversary. Two “new” works were then heard for the first time: Len Ballantine’s Daniel’s Band (actually written in 1975, this has been seldom used over the years, making it seem like new), and the world premier of Jeff Christmas’ cornet solo, Down by the Riverside, written especially for Major Kevin Metalf to play on our new CSB recording.
Two devotional items – The Light of the World and Cameron Rawlins’ vocal solo It Is Well - surrounded a brief devotional thought by Major Metcalf. The program then concluded with Robert Redhead’s Corpus Christi, which elicited an immediate standing ovation by the audience.
Sunday morning worship was led by Major Neil Evenden, CSM Joan Finely and other local leaders. In addition to a prelude before the service, including Craig Lewis’ trombone solo Incarnation, the CSB’s main contributions were Major Ken Smith’s new meditation In Quiet Confidence and Steve Brown’s cornet solo, Don’t Doubt Him Now. The band also accompanied a very fine timbrel drill to the march Montreal Citadel. The novelty of live music to accompany the singing was especially appreciated by the congregation, who have to rely on recorded music most other weeks.
Basing his thoughts on the story of Noah from Genesis 6, Major Ray Braddock brought the Bible message on the subject “I Am Responsible For My Choices.” The congregation were invited to respond as they sang William Himes’ beautiful song of commitment, All That I Am. The meeting then ended with a rousing rendition of I’ll Go in the Strength of the Lord, followed by the band benediction God Be With You (arr. William Gordon), played by special request.
Following an enjoyable lunch including a delicious anniversary cake, it was back on the bus for the trip home. It was a lovely weekend, and the CSB is especially grateful for the assistance of two of our alumni - Justin Poirier and Gordon Mayer (on second cornet and percussion respectively) – filling in for Bob Gray and Leigh Rowney, both of whom had other commitments.
It was also a pleasure to connect with two other CSB alumni during the weekend - Major Ken Evenden, a founding member and later executive officer, and Paul Rayment, who has recently organized a new brass band in the Midland community - Georgian Bay Brass.
It was a privilege to be part of this weekend celebration and we pray God’s continued blessing on the Midland Corps in the days to come.