2023-08-16

Mersey band not “all washed up” after flood

CONTRIBUTED BY MARY KEIRSTAD

Since 2013, the Mersey Band of Liverpool has made its home in the Milton Hall just outside Liverpool.

Practices were held in the main hall upstairs, and equipment, instruments and sheet music were stored in rooms in the basement.

The flood of July 22 was unexpected by most Nova Scotians and disastrous for the Milton Hall and the Mersey Band. With two feet of water in the basement, the band was faced with rescuing brass and woodwind instruments, drums of all sizes and types, and nearly 80 years worth of sheet music.

All of this material was brought upstairs into the main hall to be laid out on tables and dried.

Percussion instruments had to be carefully handled in particular. Instrument cases, most of which have fabric inside, were opened to the air, and the sheet music which could be salvaged was laid out on the tables to dry. The band is grateful to the Milton Community Hall Association for allowing them to use the main hall as part o f their recovery efforts.

There were quite a few losses, and there will have to be instruments repaired professionally.

All of this costs money, however and any donations would be gratefully accepted.

The band is also a registered charity and can issue tax receipts for donations. The mailing address is P.O. Box 671, Liverpool, NS B0T 1K0.

A concert that had been planned for July 25 was cancelled, understandably, and the band members instead worked every day and evening to clean, dry, and sort the materials.

The band was able to regroup and on Aug. 1st they performed at the Hank Snow Museum bandstand. The band marched in the Aug. 8 parade in Shelburne and were scheduled to host a concert Aug. 15 in Brooklyn.

In the meantime, two local groups have come to their aid. The new owner of Zion United Church building, Jim Newton, has given us the sanctuary room upstairs in the building as a temporary rehearsal hall as well as a venue for their upcoming Band Camp, being held Aug. 14 to 18.

The camp runs daily from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the former Zion United Church, 409 Main Street in Liverpool, with a final concert at noon on Aug. 18 that is open to the public.

As well, the band would like to thank Mr. Robert Drover and everyone at the Global Empire Corporation Call Centre. They have generously given them temporary storage space for their equipment, instruments, and music and were very kind and helpful in moving equipment to their facility.