Because I’d usually heard band concerts outdoors in village parks on Saturday nights, I never thought that I’d enjoy one on a Friday night in a shopping mall in a city like Auburn. I did, however, and my wife and I are still talking about it.

The concert master, if I may call him that, led his band magnificently, and his announcements and commentaries came over clearly despite that fact that there was no loud speaking system available.

The band itself played so well that my feet couldn’t stay still and two little sisters in the audience (about two and five) were constantly dancing to the music.

I wish the band members could have seen what they inspired in those little children because the Shriners do so much to heal troubled children.

A neighbor told me how much the Shriners were helping a 2-year-old relative of his by providing very expensive medical help.

It was also fascinating for me to watch shoppers who had not come to hear the music.

There were young people obviously in love holding hands, old married couples helping each other to walk, a teen-age lad in huge baggy pants that were belted so low on his hips that I could not understand how he would walk without their falling down, and one middle-aged couple arguing about a purchase the wife had made.

For some reason I was sympathetic to the man because he was obviously the loser in the sharp exchange of words.

Charles M. Pride Jr., Mechanic Falls

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