The Melbourne Staff Band (Bandmaster Ken Waterworth) visited the small country town of Maryborough on Sunday, 17 May 2009. To make the visit even more effective, half of the band went to the corps at Castlemaine for the Sunday services, while the other half conducted the services at Maryborough. The band came back together in the afternoon at Maryborough for the concluding events of the day.
At Castlemaine, a town that the Staff Band had not visited in about seven years,the Corps is located directly in front of the local train station. As the members of the Staff Band arrived, many local residents were boarding the 9:50 train, decked out in Collingwood and Carlton colors as they headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a big rivalry football game. The Corps officers, Captains Dave and Wendy Simpkins, were there to greet the band and were able to share coffee and teas with the band prior to the commencement of the meeting.
As a prelude to the meeting, the band played a light arrangement of Soon and Very Soon which led into a welcome from the Corps officers and a response from Graeme Faragher, who was in charge of this half of the band for the morning. Mark Hamilton led a time of singing which included Ancient of Days/Praise My Soul (arr. Trigg) and How Great Is Our God, with a responsive reading and a time of prayer. The band then presented an arrangement of the worship chorus Father, We Love You followed by a personal testimony from Neil Roper who spoke of a recent holiday in China and his opportunities to be a witness to others about his faith.
Graeme Faragher had the responsibility to give the message, based on the familiar story of Zaccheus. The message was followed by the beautiful song Just Let Me Say and the closing song, Send the Fire. The band provided a light postlude with Shine, Jesus Shine.
Following lunch, the Staff Band members who had been in Castlemaine traveled the 45 minutes back to Maryborough and rejoined their comrades. Once the Staff Band was back together as one unit, the first order of business was a massed band rehearsal at the Town Hall. The afternoon concert was planned to feature three massed band items, giving local brass band enthusiasts the opportunity to play alongside the Staff Band and a chance for the members of the Staff Band to encourage the local players. The Wedderburn City Band, Thompson Foundry Brass Band of Castlemaine, and Salvation Army bands from Maryborough, Castlemaine, Ballarat, St. Arnaud and Eaglehawk.
The afternoon concert commenced at 3:45 p.m. with a good-sized crowd in attendance. The Staff Band repertoire consisted of Hail to the King (Kenneth Downie), the cornet duet To Set My People Free (Bruce Broughton) played by Garry Todd and Neil Roper, Amazing Grace (William Himes), Michael Pilley giving a very fine performance of the complex solo Concertino for Band and Trombone (Erik Leidzén), Vitae Aeternum (Paul Lovatt-Cooper), I’ll Walk With God (Richards), Back to the Future (Robert Redhead) and the march Full Surrender (Feltwell).
After a quick transition from the Staff Band formation to the massed band set up, the first item was the march Channel Islands (Charles Craig) which also featured the Maryborough Timbrels. This was followed by Thomas Mack’s arrangement of the well-known song Climb Every Mountain. The big finale was Righteousness, Peace and Joy! (Paul Sharman). It had been a worthwhile day and the Staff Band could sense that the local people were excited to be a part of their visit.
Source:
The Melbourne Staff Band web site