FARMINGTON — Town officials have declared Saturday, July 22, as Old Crow Band Day.
The band, made up of community members from Farmington and surrounding towns, is celebrating its 65th anniversary.
The band will perform on Broadway from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday during the town’s Summer Fest.
Selectmen signed a proclamation Tuesday declaring the the day Old Crow Band Day, Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis said.
According to the proclamation, the band was started in 1952 by a “group from the Farmington Post Office getting together to play instruments and imbibe on some libations.”
A Halloween parade had been planned around that time and “some folks were dressing up like cowboys, so the Post Office group decided to dress like Native Americans.”
The group needed a name and there was a bottle of Old Crow Whiskey involved, so the original name of “Old Crow Indian Band” was adopted.
The band performs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. from the first Monday in June to the last Monday in August, weather permitting, at Meetinghouse Park on Main Street.
The band is “noted for delighting crowds with Big Band, marches, polkas, waltzes, and swing music” and has brought recognition to Farmington through its “contributions to the arts.”
The band has “provided great fun and entertainment for countless people from Farmington and many communities around the state of Maine and beyond for (65) years.”
Band director Paul Harnden, at right, leads the Old Crow Band during a Monday night concert in the Meetinghouse Park Gazebo, Farmington. There is a concert in the park from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every Monday night, weather permitting, June through August.
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