The Band of Yesterday  By Christy Knight

It was a cold afternoon as I walked into the home of William Haskell of Presque Isle. He greeted me with a warm handshake and led me to his downstairs recreation room. As I looked around the room at his certificates from his many activities, my eye fell upon the picture of the Presque Isle Scout Band of 1929.

He began to tell me about this unique band. “The students come from the local scouts . we were all scouts. I think it (the band) sort of got some people to become scouts.” All the members were boys, as members of most bands were at that time.

The practices were held at the old Greenlaw Building, where the Casco Northern Bank is now. There was a room in which band activities were held. The band practiced once a week at the convenience of the players, but as Mr. Haskell emphasized, “we always were to be there by seven o’clock, not eight or eight thirty, but by seven.” There wasn’t a band during the winter so there was no conflict with school.

The director of the Presque Isle Scout Band at the time, was Mr. Homer Cyr who is living in Portland now. Mr. Cyr was kind enough to answer a few of my questions through the mail.

He told me that he enjoyed directing the scout band while living in Presque Isle. In reply to my question about how well behaved the band was he stated, “They behaved like boy scouts; discipline was not necessary.”

All the members liked not respected Mr. Cyr. As Mr. Haskell explained, “we liked Homer because he always snapped right back. Sometimes we’d have a waltz, and you know how they’re so slow, you’d sort of drag through it. Them Homer, everytime would give us something fast afterwards.” The band expecially liked Souse marches.

The instrument, which were mainly the basics—saxaphones, clarinets, flutes, ect.—were provided by the Presque Isle Band Association, but the members all pitched in to but the uniforms.

So why were these scouts so devoted and why did they practice so often? Once a week they played at the park behind what is now LaVerdiere’s. “There were very good attendances. There usually wasn’t even enough room for the cars. People would park by the railroad station and bring their blankets and sit on the ground. It was very picturesque, with flowers and everything.” Mr. Haskell related.

Mr. Cyr wrote, “We were well accepted by the community and also by some of the other tons. the scout band became very popular during the four years I was director; taking part in civic affairs and playing in such places as the University of Maine at Orono. Off hand I remember such towns as Bangor, Calais, Ashland, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Houlton, and others.”

As Mr. Haskell related though, those were hard times and many of the boys had to work on farms; therefore they were unable to travel and stay away for too long. Nevertheless, since they were one of the only scout bands in the state, they were in great demand.

However, this band wasn’t all hard work and practice. The scouts enjoyed playing and since there was no competition, it was all done for the fun. On one very memorable trip, their route included a march across a bridge. Everything was going well and the bass drummer was giving them a perfect beat as usual. Just as they were passing over the middle of the bridge, the bass drummer lost his grip on the drum stick and it flew over the side into the water. This didn’t cause them to fall apart though. The drummer continued to beat on the drum with his hand until a new stick was found. This just goes to show that they weren’t perfect and obviously made mistakes, but they still had fun.

At the termination of my interview with Mr. Haskell, I concluded that the Presque Isle Scout Band was a somewhat unique organization in the city’s cultural life. It is easy to see why local residents of years ago enjoyed spending warm, sunny afternoons in the park while being entertained by the Band of Yesteryear.