Conductor Stephanie Parker joined the Orange Community Band as a 10-year-old trumpeter, encouraged by her father, Terry, who plays tuba in the group to this day. The father of Donna Reynolds, a member of the Orange Lions Club, which sponsors the musicians, used to sell popcorn and beverages at the concerts, and Peter Guertin never misses a show because his wife is the band’s president.
It seems these personal, intimate connections serve as the essence of one of the oldest community bands in the state.
“We’re a band family,” trumpeter Adam Whitten said.
This summer season, the band boasts 30 to 40 members — depending on the week — and expects to wrap up 2026 with its July 31 concert, when scholarships will be presented to area high school alumni and graduating seniors.
“It’s great,” Parker said. “Lots of people in the band did go to college for music. Lots of them are teachers, have been teachers.”
Several musicians have more than 50 years of membership in the band, which was founded in 1850. Originally organized as the Mechanics Band, it has performed under several names throughout its history, including the New Home Sewing Machine Band and the Minute Tapioca Band. It was sponsored by the Minute Tapioca factory that operated out of 131 West Main St. until 1967, and the band kept its name until roughly 1970, when the company asked its members to change it.
The group typically rehearses at the Central Congregational Church at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Summer rehearsal sessions usually begin in early June and run weekly to prepare for the themed summer concert series at the Butterfield Park gazebo.
“Just show up,” Whitten said. “We’ll teach you. We’ll give you everything you need.”
Whitten, 42, said he joined the ensemble nearly 30 years ago at the suggestion of his neighbor and trumpet teacher John Tandy, who was the band’s president at the time.
“I love music,” he said. “In my lifetime, I’ve played in 12 community bands — 12 different ones. And I sing and play in the area choruses and stuff like that.”
Whitten led attendees in a musical rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance at the town’s July 8 celebration commemorating the country’s 250th birthday, and Parker guided the band through an hour of patriotic music.
“It was good. It was nice to be invited,” Parker said as her musicians were packing up their instruments. “We usually don’t have extra concerts during the week because lots of the other band members play in other community bands. But it’s nice to be invited and to be a part of the statewide celebration.”
Parker explained she “grew up running around the bandstand as a kid” and became the band’s conductor after majoring in music at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
“After I was done with college, I came back to this area. It’s just a tradition I just want to see [through] as far as I can,” she said. “You can be a beginner; you can be a professional — just come and be willing to have fun and learn along with everybody else.”
Peter Guertin, whose wife, Elaine, plays in the ensemble and serves as its president, praised Parker’s efforts to attract younger audience members.
“They’re very good,” he said after the July 8 show. “I think Stephanie Parker is doing a great job of drawing the kids in, because she has entertainment for the kids each week.”
He mentioned he sold hot dogs and other food at the concerts for 23 years.
The band’s members range from a 14-year-old musician to drummer Marty Picard, who is 95. Carroll — a Lions Club member alongside his wife, Shelly — noted that Picard’s older brother was his sister’s father-in-law. The club provides insurance for the concerts.
“There’s people in that band that were in our [graduating] class in high school,” he said. “We graduated in the ’60s.”
For more information, visit the Orange Community Band’s Facebook page at Orange Community Band MA.
