Such a fascinating chapter from the tail end of the Golden Age of Bands!
Here is the band in 1915 or 16, when they were 34 members strong, and referred to as "The Italian Band," because the core group who first started playing together, just for fun, were Italian immigrants working at the tannery:
And here they are a few years later, during the Canadian National Exhibition of 1919, when the band, now 60 strong, was hailed as one of the greatest bands in North America, if not the world.
See those bass players in the top row? The first two, from left to right, were two of Sousa's superstars of the Sousaphone: Jack Richardson and Oscar Cott! Here's a better look at them (the second Sousaphone player, on the right, is J. Frank Kelly, who went on to become Huntsville's mayor, and a big-time Muskoka politician):
A year later, they were joined by James Romeril, who went on to play Sousaphone with Sousa for a few tours (1923 and 1924) - almost certainly because Richardson, who had returned to Sousa in 1923, put in a good word for him. Overall, there were 10 former Sousa Band members who joined the ACLCB, and 15 players who went on to play with Sousa after leaving the ACLCB!
And yet, Huntsville, as part of the "Highlands of Ontario," had only around 2000 residents at that time. And the band only toured locally - Toronto being the farthest they would go, it seems (about 2 hours south of Huntsville).
So what was the draw?
Well, in 1916, former Sousa clarinetist Edmund A. Wall was enticed to come to Huntsville to instruct the band, and that established a really strong foundation. Then, in early 1918, Sousa's world-famous cornet soloist, Herbert L. Clarke, was persuaded to become the band's director for five years, and at that point, the recruiting flood-gates opened wide.
The attraction, it seems (beyond Clarke), was the promise of playing in a top-notch band while enjoying the pleasures of home life, rather than being on the road all of the time. The ACLC provided the musicians with a job, a rent-free home in a beautiful area, and other perks.
This concert band truly put Huntsville on the map, and its citizens took tremendous pride in their superstar ensemble. That is, until it was abruptly disbanded in late 1926 by its founder and patron, Charles Orlando Shaw, who ran the Anglo-Canadian Leather Co. and provided all of those perks to the musicians.
There is more to share, but that will have to wait for an upcoming ITEA Journal article. Stay tuned!
