The Chatham Concert Band has played through the Great Depression and Second World War but it's the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 that's threatening to stop the music, for now.
The Chatham Concert Band traditionally plays weekly free performances at Tecumseh Park throughout the summer. However, according to Band Leader Vaughn Pugh, the concert series is on a temporary hiatus due to several COVID-19 restrictions currently in place.
"One is the size of gatherings, of course, the limited to five currently. Even if it was limited to 100 we'd have a problem with that," he said. "Also the distancing rule. For the band, each member would have to be six feet apart from each other... It's very difficult to play when the whole band is stretched out 60 or 50 feet."
The Chatham Concert Band was first organized 93 years ago, the same year the bread slicer was invented and the first transatlantic phone call was made. According to Pugh, the band has been making music consistently ever since.
"These summer concerts have gone on in Tecumseh Park every year since 1927. That's through the Great Depression, that's through World War 2. Nothing has ever stopped the band and I don't think COVID-19 will either," Pugh exclaimed. "It might just delay us a little bit this year."
Unlike most events that have been impacted by COVID-19, Pugh said the band will be able to pick back up fairly quickly once health restrictions are loosened.
"Virtually every parade we'd play at this year has been cancelled so that's out of the works. The advantage we have in the concert band is we have our home base, so to speak, in Tecumseh Park, in the bandshell. We can be ready to go and set up in a very quick time. We don't have a lot of advanced planning," he explained.
Although the summer concerts might not start at the end of June as they traditionally do, Pugh said he's optimistic that the season will still go on in some form. He added that the band members miss being able to play together and are anxiously awaiting their return to performing but also acknowledges that it's better to be safe than sorry.
As for the next steps, Pugh said it's just a matter of waiting for the provincial government to allow larger crowd sizes and relax social distancing measures.
"Summer lasts a long time if we get good weather right into September," he said. "I'm pretty confident that at some point we'll get started and get a number of concerts out there for the folks."
According to Pugh, the band will be making announcements through its Facebook page when the time comes for them to play again.