H.J. Crosby Community Band honors legacy of Dexter composer and philanthropist

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    DEXTER — One lady is playing the trumpet again for the first time in 42 years.
    A doctor commutes from Waterville each week to play the trombone.
    One of the band organizers uses a vintage tuba from the 1930s.

Observer photo/Mike Lange

    PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT — The H.J. Crosby Community Band is pictured at a recent practice session at the Dexter Knights of Columbus Hall.

    These are only three of the approximately 50 members of the H.J. Crosby Community Band who are keeping the tradition of marching music alive. “We’re having fun, and that’s the main thing,” said Lou Harper, the retired minister who owns the tuba. “I’m thinking of taking up piccolo. It’s a lot lighter to carry in parades,” he quipped.
    The four-year-old band has already started its spring tour with more venues planned for the summer.
    The ensemble is named after Harold Josiah Crosby, a Dexter native whose life and musical career were cut short at age 33, long before he could reach his full potential as a composer. He died during the outbreak of a flu epidemic during World War I.
    Crosby began playing piano, composing music and learning other instruments at a young age, according to his biography. At his graduation from Dexter High School in 1904, the school orchestra played one of his earliest compositions, “The Commencement March.”
    He took courses at Colby College, the University of Maine and the New England Conservatory of Music and continued to compose marches during this time, several of which had been published by the time he turned 20.
    “Harold Crosby wrote 54 pieces that are known, but the original scores are all over the country. Someday, we’d like to see them in one place,” Harper said.
    The best-known Crosby composition was the “Battleship California March,” a piece commissioned by the United States Navy in 1914.
    The band is sponsored by the Carl R. Cuthbert Community Foundation, named after another Dexter native who played with the Fay and Scott Band, Anah Temple Shrine Band and Brewer Community Band as well as his own swing and Dixieland bands.
    The Carl R. Cuthbert Foundation was formed “to promote music education, training, with performance opportunities for any ages at any stage of musical experience and competence; in and around Dexter …”
    Cuthbert, who died in 2011 at the age of 100, also promoted the research and development of 19th and 20th century marches, particularly those composed by Crosby.
    Rick Wing joined the band last August, but played the same type of music when he lived in Colorado. “I played trumpet in the sixth-grade, but didn’t touch the instrument for 20 years,” he said. “This type of music never dies.”
    Cindy Ranta of Monson had an even longer respite from playing a musical instrument: 42 years. “I played in high school, but didn’t take any interest in it until I found out about the band,” said Ranta. “I was surprised how easy it came back to me.”
    Ken Beach of Abbot is one of the original H.J. Crosby Community Band members. “My daughter played the flute, and she left it behind after she graduated from high school,” Beach said. “So I took it up a few years later. It’s fun. We have quite a mix of talent levels here, but we all get along.”
    Dr. Gerrard Rudmin, a Dexter optometrist, agrees. “I played a baritone euphonium in the eighth grade,” said Rudmin, “but I never learned how to read music.”
    He recalled starting practice with a few friends and acquaintances and watching the band grow. “The participation has been great. We have a lot of very good musicians,” Rudmin said.
    Dr. Alan Irwin is an osteopathic physician at the U.S.V.A. Hospital at Togus, lives in Waterville and commutes weekly to the band practices. “I played trombone in the Bath Municipal Band for a while. When I came through Dexter one day, I saw a notice about the band on the lighted sign at the police station. So I started asking around – and here I am,” he said.
    The H.J. Crosby Community Band welcomes anyone regardless of age, playing ability or instrument type. Rehearsals are on Tuesdays from 6-7:30 p.m. at Ridge View Community School or the Knights of Columbus Hall.
    For more information visit www.cuthbert-foundation.org or contact Harper at 538-5684.