Old Crow Band starts summer season

FARMINGTON — The Old Crow Band is ready to restart its weekly summer concerts under the direction of longtime member Paul Harnden.

The band plays every Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the gazebo in Meetinghouse Park on Main Street, Harnden said. His goal is to get more people involved and keep the band going.

Anyone interested in joining, “can just show up and bring an instrument, any instrument,” he said.

Starting his 23rd year with the band, Harnden follows the family tradition. His grandfather, Stanley Harnden, directed the band for 30 years. Paul follows behind his uncle, Robin Harnden, who gave it up last year. Paul’s mother, Pamela Harnden, still plays.

There were three generations of Harndens playing at the Memorial Day parade in Weld this past weekend.

Paul Harnden started playing at age 2. His son, Stanley, 17 months, played along on a snare drum as his mother held him during the parade. The youngster, his father and his grandmother all lent their talents to the band’s third Memorial Day event.

“He doesn’t take lessons but just picks it up by ear,” Paul said of his son. “He was beating on my drum so I gave him a set of drumsticks and now he was playing in tune along with the band.”

Started in 1952, the band plays the weekly summer concerts and for area parades and events. They play a variety of marching, polka and big-band music.

A couple new members played this past weekend at three Memorial Day events, he said.

The schedule of events this summer include appearances in Andover, Madison and around Franklin County. They are scheduled for events up to 2016 when Weld celebrates its bicentennial, he said.

For more information about the Old Crow Band, contact Harnden at 207-897-8110.

abryant@sunjournal.com

: Stanley Harnden, 17 months old, plays on a snare drum with the Old Crow Band during a Memorial Day event in Weld on Monday. His mother, Samantha, held him as they rode the parade route in a pickup truck.