Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times
Audience members took to their feet for a standing ovation after the final notes were played at the Kadina Wallaroo Moonta Band’s 160th anniversary concert in the Wallaroo Town Hall on Sunday, September 24.
The band’s 25 musicians performed a rousing selection of marches, popular music, hymns and movie themes before a crowd of about 200 people.
The set list paid tribute to inspirational former bandmaster, the late Sam Trenwith, featuring three of his original compositions — the Kadina and Wallaroo March, Kadina and Wallaroo Swing and Yorke Peninsula March.
And Yorke Peninsula’s heroic aviator and World War I fighter pilot, Captain Harry Butler, was acknowledged in a charming rendition of Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, complete with narration and sound effects.
Guest artists, the Harvest Christian College, Kadina, primary choir, led by performing arts teacher Cathy Nicholls, brought their youthful energy to a selection of hymns and popular music.
There was plenty of time for audience to mingle and view a collection of band memorabilia during the afternoon tea break, while band member Brian Schulz, 90, provided entertainment on the piano.
In acknowledgement of bandmaster Linda Kinch’s 10 years in the role, band president Aaron Jenkins presented her with a conductor’s baton in a box made using a spare floorboard from the KWM Band Hall in Wallaroo by Bob Petts from the Copper Coast Woodworkers Club.
The band played I am Australian in recognition of the fact Linda and her husband, band member and operations manager Malcolm Kinch, are also celebrating 10 years since they became Australian citizens.
Another personal milestone was celebrated by Graham Sobey, who has played continuously with the band for the past 60 years.
“A lot of effort goes into these concerts,” he said.
“But when you see the crowd come in, it makes it all worthwhile.”
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This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 26 September 2023.
