1963 Marietta High School reunion

1963

. Toronto Band Tour

The Marietta High School Band
Boyd McKeown, Director ......Canadian Tour
As saved from the Marietta Daily Journal, June, 1963
The Canadian Tour of the Marietta, Georgia, High School Band was made in June, 1963. The tour consisted of two concerts for the 45th Annual Convention of Optimist International in Toronto, Ontario and concerts en route at Asheville N. C. Lockport, N.Y., and on the Capitol steps in Washington, D. C. The selections included here were recorded during the two Toronto concerts and the Asheville program. The other two concerts were presented out-of-doors where various complications made recording impossible.

Among the instruments, you should hear a whistle with a ball in it (verigated), a huge drum section and a full orchestra. Maybe you need a SoundBlaster. * © Creative Technology Ltd 1994
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ALL ABOARD!
Band Director Boyd McKeown uses a portable loudspeaker to summon Marietta High School band members to board their bus for Canada. The MHS crew left Thursday morning for a week-long trip to Canada and Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ed Begnell)

	SNACK STOP Members of the Marietta High School Band stop between Asheville, N.C., and Wheeling, W. Va. for a box lunch en route to Toronto, Canada. The musicians gave two concerts Monday at the Optimist International Convention. They are scheduled to leave Toronto today for Washington, D.C.
	Jerry Raper, drum major, leads Marietta High School band in concert in Lockport, N.Y. About 2,500 persons turned out to hear the MHS band in the outdoor concert. (Photo by Buddy Hardy)
	BAND LEADER AT NIAGARA FALLS Marietta High School Band Leader Boyd McKeown and Mrs. McKeown are shown at Niagara Falls during the band's trip to the Optimist Convention at Toronto, Canada. School photographer Buddy Hardy turned the tables on the shutter-bugging sightseers and snapped their picture before they recorded the picturesque scene. The MHS Band will return to Marietta Friday night.
	TORONTO, HERE WE COME! Part of the 87 marietta High School band members who left for Toronto, Canada today wave a last good by to the old hometown. The group will play two concerts for the Optimist International convention in Toronto Monday-then head back to Marietta, arriving June 28. The bandsmen rode in three busses. (Staff Photo by Ed Bengnell)

The 86-member Marietta High School Band was invited to appear in Toronto as the only entertainment unit from the United States after scoring a hit at the Georgia optimist Convention in 1962. Prime time was given the group for their programs, one being presented at the opening session of the convention, the other at the President's Ball. The listener will notice the enthusiasm with which the band was received at these programs, especially selection on side one entitled ENCORES. This group of selections ends with DIXIE, which the band played at each concert, having discovered the spirited tune to be as much a favorite in New York and Ontario as in Georgia.

Sharing the spotlight with the band on HEY, LOOK ME OVER and WEST SIDE STORY SELECTIONS was the precision team of 8 MHS Majorettes who proved to be audience-pleasers at each performance. The latter number is conducted by 1962-63 Drum Major, Jerry Raper.

The Marietta High School Band, long a favorite of local audiences, has in recent years come to be recognized as one of the leading bands in Georgia, holding an enviable record of Superior ratings at the annual Music Festivals. Their busy yearly schedule of Football half-time shows, concerts, parades, and performances of small units within the band has won many fans for them. The number was increased by people from all over the U.S. and Canada on the 1963 trip. CANADIAN TOUR is the third record album to be released by the band, the previous two consisting of much more serious (classical) music.

The 9-day tour holds many pleasant memories for the students who comprise the band. It is their wish that this collection of their performances be dedicated to those individuals and organizations in Georgia and on the route who made the trip possible through their hard work and financial support.

Marietta Band Gives Concert in Washington

WASHINGTON -- The Marietta High School band gave a concert on the steps of the Capitol this morning, enroute home from the Optimist International Convention in Toronto, Canada.
Band members will take a boat trip down the Potomac River to night and leave for Roanoke, Va., early Thursday morning. They will arrive in Marietta Friday night.
The M.H.S. Band arrived in Lockport, N.Y. Saturday afternoon, and played an outdoor concert to a crowd of 2500. They were well received and played three encores, the last being "Dixie", which the audience loved.
After the concert they had dinner and a party at the "Whirlpool Supper Club." The Dynel's the M.H.S. Combo furnished the music for the party. The members of the band stayed in homes there and Sunday morning attended churches of their own choice. They then traveled to Niagara Falls, viewed the Falls from both the United States and Canadian sides and drove to Toronto, arriving in the afternoon.
Two concerts were given at the International Optimist Convention Monday. A morning concert at the Canada in Room of the Royal York Hotel which was a huge success giving the band four standing ovations, one especially for Jim McKillop for a piano solo.
Tuesday was a free day for sightseeing in Toronto and the band left Tuesday night for an overnight trip to Washington, D.C.

The following is from the record album

SIDE ONE
1. MARCH OF THE OLYMPIANS - Walker - Linn
2. THEME FROM THE APARTMENT - Williams
   James McKillip, Piano Soloist
3. WEST SIDE STORY SELECTION - Bernstein
   Conducted by Drum Major, Jerry Raper
4. DIXIELAND FESTIVAL - Arr. Green
5. ENCORES: HEY, LOOK ME OVER,
   I GOT RHYTHM, DIXIE

SIDE TWO
1. SELECTIONS From The Music Man - Wilson
2. THE THREE JETS - Bradford
Trumpet Trio: James McKillip, David Wilson, Bob Johnson
3. HASKELL'S RASCALS - Yoder
Drum Trio: Billy Wilder, Bruce Burn, Ernest Faver
4. FINALE, SYMPHONY NO. IV - Tchaikovsky

The Marietta High School alumni is missing
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Anything concerning these pages can be emailed to Doug Merriman 3d@mindspring.com.
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