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Good News
Congratulations to Donna and Ian on the safe arrival of a baby
girl. Jasmine Lily finally checked in during the wee small hours
of Saturday morning, weighing 7 lbs 1 oz. Well done, all
concerned!
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Sad News
We are very sorry to announce the death of principal trombonist
Valerie Watts. Valerie finally
passed away after an amazingly courageous fight against cancer
over the last couple of years. Valerie was a member of Swinton for
nearly 20 years starting as Rep before moving to trombone. As a
professional bassoonist her standards were uncompromising and her
dedication to band was total. She continued
to play in the band until the last month of her life and to be
involved in it right up to the end. Her strength of
character, generosity, courage and humour were an example and
inspiration to us all and she will
be hugely missed both as a key band member and as a good friend.
Valerie's funeral was at Octon Crematorium on Tuesday June
29th at 2.00 p.m.
A Memorial Concert and tea-party is being arranged and will take
place at Helmsley Arts Centre on Sunday September 19th. For
further details please contact June
Emerson
We would like to extend our condolences to Valerie's family.
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Band
Barbecue/ Social Night/ Trophy Presentation
The barbeque held at Swinton Sports centre on
Saturday 24th July was a great success. The
weather more or less held off - Steve got a little damp - and the
food and drink were great.
After
everyone had reached the stage when all they wanted to do was sit
and digest, an old Swinton tradition was revived and we had a
slide show - along with archive pictures, almost everyone present
was suitably embarrassed!
As the Band Dinner had had to be cancelled, the
annual awards were then presented.
Senior
Award – Ellis
Senior Attendance – Tracey and Alice
Rollinson Award – Daniel
Junior Award – Niamdh
Junior Attendance – Niamdh
Learner Attendance – Ged
Best Learner– Jacob
A new award was "The Chairman's Trophy" which was
presented to Nigel.
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Gaps in the band!
As a result of people going off to University and increasing work
commitments we really need some more players. We are looking to fill the 2nd euphonium and 2nd
baritone seats, but experienced players of any instrument
(especially cornets) are sure of a
warm welcome. We are very happy to welcome university students studying in the
area even if you can't play during the vacations - after all, that
is when our resident students return! So if you feel Swinton
might be the band for you, contact Dorothy
or come to a Monday or Wednesday evening practice.
There are also a few places available for new learners of any age
from 8 to 80. If you've always fancied having a go at a
brass instrument, now is your chance. Contact Dorothy
or come and meet us at the Bandroom on Saturday evenings!
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Next
Year!
Next year sees the band's 75th anniversary and we are starting to
think about celebrating it in style. Obviously, we would
like as many as possible of our ex-players to join us for this -
final plans will be posted as soon as they are
settled!
Meanwhile if you are an ex-player - and especially if you've lost
contact over the years - and would like to be involved please
contact Dorothy
with your contact details, instrument played etc.
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Whit Friday 2010
Not daunted by last year's appalling weather, we returned to
Saddleworth for another great evening out. This time the
weather did not let us down and conditions were as near perfect as
one could hope for.
This year we marched to "Blaze Away" and played
"Punchinello" on the stand. Once again we
completed our six villages (Denshaw, Delph, Friezland, Uppermill,
Dobcross and Diggle) and did better than last year especially at
Diggle where we came 20th out of 55.
This year saw two past players (Mary and Tom), our regular
visitor from South London (Richard) and a few other kind
souls (Tanya, Claire, Julia, Kathryn, Owen and Richard) helping us
out. Many thanks to you all - welcome back any time!
For the first time, Nigel was coerced into marching in his right
place at the front of the band, which gave us a nice smart look
and enabled much neater stops and starts.
A notable feature of the band turnout was James' hair - not
content with dyeing it in band colours he had the band logo
incorporated in it!
As might be expected a good time was had by all, and we returned
to Malton in good form and the wee small hours. Mercifully
we had no jobs over the weekend!
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www.
easyfundraising.org.uk
This
is one of the easiest possible ways of getting money for the band.
If you are shopping on line (anything from cat litter to
holidays!) do it through this site. Most online suppliers are registered with it and they have a
really good directory of suppliers.
You order through the site and the suppliers give money to
Swinton Band! Something
for nothing – what could be better.
Just get shopping - be generous to yourself - and you can
be generous to us too!
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Malton Brass '09
This year, there were very few bands entered for this contest
(shame!) so we went for it knowing that the worst we could do was
third, but equally knowing that (at least on paper ) that was
where we deserved to be! So it was no real disappointment
when that is where we ended up! We played the same programme
as we had at Hardraw, just a great deal better, and were delighted
to hear the adjudicator Alan Hope say that he had had a really
hard time producing any result as he had all three bands in second
place! The band played really well and Dan's solo had the
audience on its feet at the end. We were delighted but not
surprised when he gained the prize for best soloist for his
performance of Grandfather's Clock - it really was special!
Well done all, especially Nigel for all his hard work.
Congratulations too to Stape and South Milford on their excellent
results - let's hope next year for more bands to join us.
Local bands also did very well in the upper section with
Kirkbymoorside taking 1st and York Railway Institute taking 2nd
place. Well done to you both!
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Solo
Contest
This year it was decided to revive the Swinton Solo and
Ensemble Contest
which enables all members of the band from the most experienced to
the real beginners to have a go at performing on their own in
front of an audience.
The contest took place on the evening of10th October at the Swinton
Sports Club in front of Cliff Hicks who had kindly agreed to act
as adjudicator and proved to be a really enjoyable evening .
Well done, all! It takes a lot of courage to stand up on your own
in front of an audience - perhaps most of all when you know them!
Special thanks go to David Mather for acting as accompanist
and to to Steve for organising this enjoyable
evening
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In
the Solo section results were as follows:
Juniors
1st. Jacob (Euphonium)
2nd. Izzie (Cornet)
3rd. Ged (Bb Bass)
4th. James (Baritone)
5th Joseph (Cornet)
Intermediate
1st. Daniel (Tenor Horn)
2nd. Sophie (Tenor Horn)
3rd. Mike (Eb Bass)
4th=. Mark (Trombone)
4th=. Niamh (Cornet)
Open
1st. Jane (Flugel Horn)
2nd. Steve (Eb Bass)
3rd. Paul (Cornet)
4th. Alice (Cornet)
In the Ensemble Section the results were:
Juniors
1st. Quartet- Niamh, Izzie, Daniel
and Jacob
2nd. Duet -Izzie and Ged
3rd. Duet - Ellis and James
Seniors
1st. Quintet - Alice, Niamh, Andrew, Ellis and Tracey
2nd. Quintet - Steve, Tracey, Jane, Mark, Valerie
3rd. Quintet - Andy, Niamh, Mike, Mark and Sophie
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Congratulations!
to Donna and Ian who were married a fortnight ago at St Mary's Old
Malton. Needless to say the band played for them and it was
a wonderful occasion. For more pictures see the Wedding
Album page and the photographer's
website
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A
Bad Hair Day?
James has such a commitment to Swinton Band that he has had his
hair dyed in the band colours, black, gold and purple! As
well as looking resplendent, he has also raised £300 for band
funds as well as upping the band's profile by appearing in the
local press!
Well done James - it looks great!

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Hardraw Scar Contest
Last Sunday we were back at Hardraw and this year the weather did
us proud! A gloriously sunny day, it only got chilly towards
the end when the midges came out in force. We were drawn fifth which meant an early start for
those who weren't already there (actually they had an early start
too!) and the band was organised and ready to play with plenty of time
to spare. The programme went reasonably well and we made
fifth in a hard-fought lower section. This year as well as
being able to see the adjudicator at work , we also had to contend
with the un-nerving boom and cameras brought by the BBC who were
filming the contest for a series next year. Congratulations to
Dan on a
superb solo and thanks to Nigel for all the hard work he has put
in on the programme. Well done too to the band - it's the
first time we have managed to do Hardraw without a single borrowed
player - even if we only got the entire band together for the
first time on stage! It was a grand day out - enjoyed by all
or so they are assured by those who can remember!
This also marked the end of an era as Maggie, Will and Sarah are
now off to university. We wish them well and hope to see
them back helping out from time to time!
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Singing Playing in the Rain!
Last Saturday Stape
Silver Band organised a fantastic evening in Pickering
Market Place. Stape, Kirkbymoorside
Town Band and Swinton formed a Massed Band to put on a free
concert to celebrate 125 years of Stape Band and of course
Yorkshire Day.
Each band in turn marched up Pickering, playing the march of their
choice (Punchinello, Slaidburn and Loyal and True) after which
they joined for a concert under the batons of all three
conductors.
A large and enthusiastic audience had gathered who were not in the
least deterred by the weather, which started poor and became
dreadful, leading to the truncation of the concert as music turned
to pulp and fountains sprang from the timps! Despite the
atrocious weather, it was a great event, and all the feedback has
been very favourable.
Thank you to Stape Silver for organising the event - hopefully it
will be the first of many!
We should also extend a major thank you to our president who spent
an evening helping us annoy and please (in pretty equal measure!)
the inhabitants of Swinton as he instructed the band in the finer
points of marching!
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Welcome!
We are delighted to welcome Dan to the principal euphonium seat
from September. Dan has played with us from time to time
over the last four years or so, helping with the learners group, as a "dep" and as a
guest soloist. Now that he has seen the error of his ways in
moving down to London and is moving back up north, we are thrilled
that he is actually becoming a proper member of the band rather
than just part of the social group!
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New
"IgNobel" Award
As Tracey was borrowing a horn to play at our concert at Sheriff
Hutton, Steve thought he'd give it a bath first! As a result
of his findings he had no hesitation in awarding Josephine
"The Sewerpipe of the Year" award and presenting it
formally to her at the next band practice. We understand he
will also be presenting a bill from Dynarod!
On a more serious note he urged those who didn't know how to
maintain their instruments to attend one of the learner's evenings
about this, or to use his services at the cost of a donation to
band funds!
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Sad News
We are very sorry to
announce the death of Roy Lester. for many years a stalwart of the
Bass section. Roy joined the band in 1986, coming in to
cover for a regular player who had had an accident. At that
stage Roy lived in Thorne, near Doncaster and attendance at band
practice meant a round trip of some 80 miles. The regular
player returned but Roy stayed on and eventually became
Vice-Chairman of the band. He did move to Ryedale so that
attendance became less of an endurance test but the commitment he
initially showed never waned. Eventually he retired from playing
but continued to take a lively interest in the band and its
doings.
Roy died on Wednesday 15th April 2009 and his funeral will be on
Tuesday 21st April at St Mary's Church, Cloughton
at12.30 p.m.
We would like to extend our condolences to Megan and all their
family. Roy was a good friend and we will miss him.
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Well done all!
After an awful lot of very hard work on this year's area test
piece "The Talisman" (generally regarded as an extremely
hard choice for the 4th section!) we had a nice leisurely start
from Dorothy's to get to Darlington for a practice before the
afternoon section of the Northern Area contest. All went
swimmingly until we discovered that we were drawn last so were not
due to play till about 5.30. That's an awful long time to
keep the band out of the Darlington pubs!
However, all went well and we played a good performance and came
off reasonably happy with what we had done and secure in the knowledge
that no following band would play better!
The adjudicator's speech was depressing - he did not seem to think
much of any band, and had very little positive to say, so we were
not very optimistic about our chances. So we were hugely
delighted to find that we had achieved third place with a trophy
and some prize money! Though not off to Harrogate, it is a
wonderful achievement for a young band, and all concerned deserve
the fullest recognition. Thanks, Nigel, for an immense
amount of hard work! Well done to all those who gamely got
to all their rehearsals despite coughs, wounds, slipped discs,
exams etc. And not least thanks to Dorothy for keeping the
whole show organised and to Dennis for infinite patience as he
brought the coach in and out of Darlington all day!
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Congratulations
to Tom and Lucie Whitfield who were married on Friday at Donington Park.
Tom was for many years a key member of the cornet line-up,
and a number of ex-Swinton players were at the wedding including
Jennie Whitfield (bridesmaid) and Matthew Mayo (best man)
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Sad News
We are very sorry to have to announce the death of Tommy Dykes, a
long-time player in the band. Tommy was a tremendous
character and well-loved by generations of band
members.
Born in 1940,
Tommy played trombone and Bb bass and was an active member
of the band from the age of 13 until early 1994.
Tommy started work on a farm at Swinton Grange at the age of 15,
but after a spell at Ainsty’s where he met his wife Hazel, he
became a postman until he retired. Tommy always had a cheery smile
and a joke with young and old alike; on his round he made many a
lonely person’s day.
In band, Tommy
was great with the youngsters, recruiting them, helping them with
their music and taking them to Band engagements, and was a great
ambassador for Swinton Band. Tommy was always the life and soul of
the party and will be greatly missed.
At Tommy’s funeral, the band attended to play some of his
favourite pieces. It
was a great occasion – thanks to all those who turned out!
It was good to see the return of some old friends from the
past to help us – you’re always welcome!
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