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Some history by Bob Haggett
Some history by Fred Morgan.
-also-
Check out Andy's web page regarding the Brass Firemen!
By Bob Haggett, Manager
At the opening of the 1972 Norwood Village Centennial the Norwood Fire Department Band produced a best-selling record.
Mrs. Charles (Edith) Purves bought the first record from Band Manager Fred Morgan and Band Director John Cotey.
Firemen’s field Days with entertainment and parade were a popular Sunday event at that time so each Sunday the 15 member Norwood Fire Department Band and Manager Fred Morgan were participants. They made an average of 15 appearances during the summers of 1972 -1976. In 1976, the second record was made in honor of the Nation’s Bicentennial and was also offered on 8-tracktape. This is what helped to inspire the present day name of the Band - THE NORWOOD BRASS FIREMEN.
Field days were still going strong and these events actually created a political arena for local politicians. The Band was well liked. A Canton politician was seeking a seat in the State Capitol. The association with Dave Martin would prove to be very beneficial to the Band in coming years.
In 1977, Fred Morgan decided to turn over the management of the band, which he had headed for 32 years, feeling it was time for new leadership. He asked me, his nephew, to be the new manager. At first I found the job overwhelming but realized the fun in it and decided to continue Fred's philosophy of why there was a band to begin with. Simply; it was for a group of volunteer men to get together, play good music, enjoy the fellowship and, most of all, have fun.
We continued our annual performing schedule from Memorial Day to Labor Day with about 15 public appearances.
In 1979, Assemblyman Dave Martin invited us to the State Capitol in Albany to perform while the Assembly was in session. This was a first for both the Band and the Assembly since there had been very few performances by outside groups during the actual Assembly session.
Our trip to Albany was historic and exciting. We were televised through the state and carried on local TV news at home This was also Fred Morgan's last trip with the Band. We performed in Albany in January 1979 and in March Fred suffered a stroke.
Each year the Band represented the Northern Delegation at the annual Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Convention where we entertained the convention delegates - and also sold records to them. This convention is held at a different location each year, anywhere from Buffalo to New York City.
Instrumental in promoting the Band with FASNY was Bill Reid of Massena, a former Norwood resident and an executive director of FASNY. We were becoming better known all the time and important things were in the making.
In 1980, Assemblyman Dave Martin became Congressman Martin. He invited the Band to Washington, D.C, for a four-day visit.
Food, lodging and transportation were required Since we were a volunteer Band with a yearly expense of about $200, we had to raise $5000 to undertake this trip. Throughout the summer we held fund raising events and by September of 1981 we had reached our goal and the Nation's Capitol. We performed on the Capitol steps and at the Lincoln Memorial. We were given a tour of the West Side of the White House We saw the Oval 0ffice, the Cabinet room and had a tour inside Vice President George Bush's office. One band member, Tim Donahue,sat in Mr. Bush's chair. We left a record on his desk for which we later received a personal note of thanks from the Vice-President. This note is in the Norwood Museum. When we left the White House we signed the guest book ‘THE NORWOOD BRASS FIREMEN’.
In July 1982, I received a call from the White House inviting the Band back to Washington to perform on the South Lawn for First Lady, Nancy Reagan. The Band borrowed $2800 for air fare. We boarded our used high school bus early in the morning, drove the three hours to Syracuse airport, flew to Washington and performed for Mrs. Reagan for two hours After visiting with the First Lady and having a glass of lemonade with her, we were taken back to the airport by the Secret Service There we were met by Congressman Martin in the airport parking lot.
We celebrated with a couple of cold beers before flying back to Syracuse the same afternoon. After landing in Syracuse and boardingour bus for home, I reflected on my early beginning with the Band. In 1969, we drove our cars to different events but in the early 1970's we acquired a used school bus for transportation. Now we had just flown to the Nation's Capitol and performed for the First Lady. Nothing could beat this experience
In February 1983, the Band was invited to perform at the Lake Placid Olympic Arena. Lake Placid was the host of the World Winter Olympics in 1980. Because this site continued to be a training center, there was World Competition each year. The Band was invited to perform at the Ceremonies for the International luge event. We bused to Lake Placid; did the event in the evening and went home.
Three weeks before Thanksgiving 1983, 1 received a phone call from one of the Olympic Committee members at Lake Placid. He said that the Committee was very impressed with our performance and extended an invitation to travel to Sarajevo, Yugoslavia to be the Official USA Band in the Opening Ceremonies for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games.
I could write a book about the trip to Sarajevo, there are scrapbooks on the trip in the Norwood Museum. I do want to mention that, even though we were invited by Lake Placid to attend the Olympics with them, we had to raise over $20,000 to cover our expenses in transporting the Band to Yugoslavia. We had about $150.
My wife, Judee and I worked countless hours in our kitchen writing letters and making phone calls asking for support for our cause. Once the papers, radio and TV spread the word of our trip, the entire Norwood area and surrounding villages took interest in our trip.
In ten weeks after starting our campaign for funds, over $20,000 was received from private, individual, public and corporate groups.
TheNorth Country had responded in its traditionally generous way.
Putting together a 24-piece Band which two billion people around the world would view on TV was also a task. Rehearsals, packing, preparing uniforms for a summer Band which was going to play in a winter event, acquiring passports were some of the preparations that we had to make This was all done in 12 weeks which included Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year Holiday
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