BETHEL – The Mahoosuc Community Band will play its final concert of the summer at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12, at the Gould Academy Bingham Auditorium.

The band, which plays “traditional popular music arranged for concert bands,” according to President Kathleen DeVore, began 19 years ago after a group of residents “not many years out of high school” decided to start a community-type band.

“I’ve been in the group for 11 years,” DeVore said, “but there are some that have been there since it began. We also have high school students participating, and we have four or five college students returning to play with us this summer, including two music students, one from the University of Southern Maine and the other from the University of Maine at Orono.”

DeVore said the band is diverse, with some members “who are 50 years old and just recently picked up instrument playing.” There are some members “who have been playing all of their lives.”

The concert is free to the public and will be directed by Patricia Boyle-Wight. DeVore said donations are welcome and will go toward helping the band decrease expenses.

“We always allow the community to come in and watch us, free of charge, but we very happily accept donations,” DeVore said. “Some of the items are owned collectively by the band, and other items are owned by individual members. This just helps go toward covering that cost.”

DeVore said the band has concerts in the fall and winter.

“We’re done for the season, but we will be performing on Veterans Day at the Locke Mills Legion,” she said, “and we always play a Christmas show during the holidays.”

For more information, call DeVore at 875-2364 or e-mail her at katdev@aol.com.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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