So. Royalton Town Band To Play At State House Farmer’s Night

So. Royalton Town Band To Play At State House Farmer’s Night By Martha Slater

The South Royalton Town Band and its director of 64 years, Dick Ellis, will take center stage at the Vermont State House in Montpelier Wednesday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. in a Farmer’s Night concert.

This will be the band’s second appearance at a Farmer’s Night event, since they also performed as part of that series three years ago. Ellis also directed the South Royalton High School Band at the Statehouse many years ago.

The current South Royalton Town Band has 50 members, who come not only from South Royalton, but also from a number of other towns, including Bethel, Randolph, Rochester, Chelsea, Tunbridge, Barnard, Woodstock, Barre, Northfield, and White River Junction. The director’s son, David Ellis, plays trumpet in the band and will perform a solo on Farmer’s Night. David’s sister, Joan Ellis Tabor, who plays flute and clarinet, is another band member, and will perform the piccolo solo in “Stars and Stripes Forever” on April 1.

The 75-minute program that night will also include the famous “National Emblem March,” written by Vermont composer A.E. Bagley, and a medley from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music.” The concert is free and open to the public.

Ellis noted that the Farmer’s Night series began many years ago, when many of the legislators were farmers.

“Most of them stayed up in Montpelier during the week, due to the winter weather, and by Wednesday night, they were in need of entertainment,” he explained. “That’s when the tradition began, and it’s continued to be popular with the public. The concerts are held in the House of Representatives’ chamber, and the tables are moved out, with the performers in the middle,” Ellis said. “The audience sits at the desks and in the balcony.”

With a total of 50 members, and about 35-40 playing at most performances, the band will present a series of seven Thursday night concerts in the new bandstand on the South Royalton green, beginning in June. They will also travel up the road to do a concert on the Royalton village green, in front of the church, and present other concerts around central Vermont.