It all began modestly 45 years ago when New England College Professor of Music Angela Robinson revived a 19th-century tradition of hosting outdoor community concerts. On Tuesday evenings during July and August, Robinson’s volunteer musicians would present an hour of Souza marches and Patriotic tunes to a crowd of 50-100 families and seniors. Billie Reed would sing the Star Spangled Banner and the Henniker Peace Community would sell lemonade and brownies.
Halfway through the program, Robinson would lead a parade of young children through the crowd to a rousing march.
One spring, only three volunteer musicians showed up. Undaunted, Robinson marched into a Henniker Board of Selectmen meeting and asked the town to provide her a budget to hire local bands to continue providing this community service to residents. The board and the town administrator, Peter Flynn, agreed and the town became the sponsor of the Summer Music Series.
The bands now have a permanent home in Henniker’s Community Park, performing in the aptly named Angela Robinson Bandstand, gifted to the town by her husband, the late Walter Robinson, on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. Retired town administrator and current selectman Flynn opens his backyard gate to the park and provides lawn games for the children attending the concerts. Adding to the festivities, 15 years ago, Angela Robinson decided it was time to retire and turned to the board to ask them to appoint a new committee to carry on her work of bringing music to Henniker in the summer.
Recognizing the summer programming as a community-building event, the board made the Summer Concert Series an official town committee. Although the Robinsons are no longer alive, the tradition and magic of music continues. From those humble beginnings on the porch of the New England College Administration Building, the series has grown over the years, with support from the town and help from the businesses community, to showcase some of the region’s most exciting performers. The crowd has grown, the bandstand has increased in size and the crowds have blossomed.
Tuesdays in the park in Henniker are a destination point for people from 15-20 communities within the central and Monadnock Regions of the state. The music ranges from rock to reggae to soul to folk, from a trio of musicians to a group of 10, from country to funk to free American and jazz. The season is kicked off in the beginning of June and runs weekly until just after Labor Day. Concerts in the Park in Henniker on Tuesday evenings bring us all back together in celebrating Angela’s legacy.
Visit http://www.hennikerconcerts.com for more information.
