The Milton District Band is set to hit an amazing musical note.
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The band will celebrate 150 years of making music and making history.
The band has been welcoming players from Milton and surrounding towns since 1869 when it commenced as the Volunteers Brass Band.
Over time it has variously been called the Ulladulla Union Band, the Milton Town Band, and The Milton and Districts Band.
A publication of 'Milton District Band 1869-2019: The Story of 150 Years' will be launched at the Ulladulla library on Wednesday, June 12, at 1 pm to mark this milestone.
The details in this account of the Milton District Band have been mostly taken from the minute books.
It was researched and collated by Cathie le Brun.
Photos and captions come from The Milton District Band Inc. Memoirs Books. Additional information has been gleaned from Alex McAndrew's 'Milton and Ulladulla Districts in the Wars' - 1994, from 'Nulladolla' the Milton, Ulladulla and Districts' Historical Society publication, Joanne Ewin's 'Meet the Pioneers' - 1991, the Jack Wallace Collection, and numerous newspaper articles.
There are also stories, anecdotes and memories given to the author over the past twenty-five years by Phoebe Davis, Mary Petty, Ron Miller, Pat and Doris Carson, Mrs Higgins, Owen Crawford, Jack Thomas, Harold and Gladys Townsend, Hermann Jansen, Roy and Joan Sadler, Ross Sadler and various other members of the band.
Recording local history is important and the process started in 1991.
In 1991, Harold Townsend, the bandmaster of the Milton District band showed Cathie the archived documents he was keeping for the band and the rest is now history.
"In 1996 he (Harold Townsend) asked me to look after the documents and photos and to put them in chronological order in the future," Mrs le Brun said.
"In 2014, I embarked on the project of collating photos, documents and other interesting pieces of information and this led to the historical narrative which the band will print this year in June."
Over 160 local families have been connected with the Milton District Band over its 150-year history.
Sounds like Mr Townsend was a hit with the kids.
"In the late nineties a lot of young people joined the band, boosting numbers to over 60," she said.
"The bandmaster then was Mr Townsend who many of the children called 'Mr Townband'."
Anyone can go to the launch on June 12 at 1 pm but must book in with the Ulladulla Library.