Honor Guard Posts Colors For Tenth Annual New England Blues festival

MIDDLEBORO:- It was the 10th anniversary of the Southern New England Blues Festival held on the property of the Middeboro Lodge of Elks property on Saturday, August 1, which found members of Simeon L. Nickerson Post 64 American Legion and Middleboro Honor Guard open the daylong event by the posting of colors. Handling the bugle for “Call to the Colors” was Tex Washburn.

...........Representing Post 64 and Honor Guard were Bruce Wright, Walter Campbell, Bill Franks, Bob Lessard, Dave Singer, Paul Krietzberg, Wayne Packard, Tex Washburn, Al Ortelt and Brian Reynolds.

...........The New England Blues Festival draws numerous ticket buyers to the annual event. Funds raised benefit veterans through the Middleboro Elks Veterans Services and the Cape & Islands Veterans Outreach Center.

...........Members of the Middleboro Elks are noted for a monthly lunch for local veterans and the annual Flag Day ceremonies. The group also assists hospitalized veterans and sends donations to veterans through the State Commander.

...........A raffle for a Hy Line Cruise ticket by the Nam Vets Association during the Blues Festival helps raise money for three scholarships. Scholarships are awarded directly to recipients, according to the group’s news release.

...........The group’s Outreach Center is headquartered at 569 Main Street, Hyannis, MA and serves all veterans: Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force. The phone number is 508-778-1590.

...........The Free Times Publishing Company and its publisher Karen Blair sponsor the daylong event, which ran from noon until seven p.m.

...........Gates opened at noon and saw the posting of the National and Armed services colors by the Honor Guard at 12:45 followed by Call to the Colors by bugler Tex Washburn. The National Anthem was then sung by Delaney, who received a warm round of applause.

...........On hand to videotape for local programming was Nick Guarda. Also, Carter Allan and the WZLX staff were on the airways to program the festival over the world-wide-web. And the sound crew of Ed McGee and James Mansfield kept things moving.

...........First on the entertainment stage were the Rhythm Deacons, who played original blues, R & B and Gospel. Members of the group, each who have at least 30 years in live performance, include: D.C. Large, guitar and vocal; Norm Simpson, harmonica and vocals; Jim Harris, drums and vocal; Scott Schofield, bass and vocal; and Roger Griffin, keyboards.

........... Next on the schdule came the Wildcat O’Halloran Band, according to their news release, has been thrilling audiences in Western Massachusetts for over 20 years. Living Blues magazine wrote: “Wildcat emerges as one of the most entertaining….and his band doesn’t know the meaning of dull.”

...........Wolf and the Jam Daddies completed the day’s entertainment. Their promo states: “This band was formed to have fun. Jam Daddies are people that love to play, and let other people have fun playing too. Bruce on keys, Steve on bass, Billy and drums and Wolf on guitar and vocals.”

............Closing the program were the members of the Honor Guard as they retired the Colors. The bugle sounded “Retreat” for the final notes of the day. (Posted by Bob Lessard, Historian Post 64 2015.)