RE LIVING THE MUSIC

Hoppy's brass band days remembered

Jack "Hoppy" Hodgson no longer has the wind required to play the cornet on which he sounded the Last Post at Anzac Day ceremonies for several decades.

Aged 86, he's been living at Switzer Residential Care in Kaitaia since August last year and the musical participation once so important in his life is now largely a memory, like the Kaitaia Municipal Brass Band he revived 67 years ago.

But it's not forgotten. Bryce Beaver joined the now-defunct band when he was a schoolboy about 40 years ago and he remembers Hoppy and the other band members as "a tremendous bunch of guys who looked after each other".

Bryce returned this past support when he persuaded the Whangarei District Brass Band to come to Kaitaia and provide a free concert for Hoppy at the Switzer home on Saturday.

It was a wonderful occasion which had toes tapping, hands clapping and the home's aged residents bright-eyed and smiling as 18 band members played tunes from the past and present.

The band's musical director, Frank Lundberg, explained how in colonial times Northland towns with an army garrison - Kaitaia, Mangonui, Whangarei and Dargaville - had garrison brass bands.

While there was evidence of the Kaitaia Municipal Brass Band playing at a race meeting at Waipapakauri in 1923, not much more was heard of it until Hoppy "got it humming along" in 1945, Mr Lundberg said.

Hoppy trained as a pilot but World War II ended before he was required for military service. He and his wife Mary raised three sons on their Kaitaia dairy farm and along with his involvement in the brass band, Hoppy was a mainstay of the local gliding club, for which he was chief flying instructor.

Eldest son Brett Hodgson helped his father to the conductor's rostrum at the rest home and Mr Lundberg passed over his baton so Hoppy could lead the band through a rousing rendition of the march Invercargill.

It was an emotional experience for Hoppy who grew in confidence as the tubas kicked and his joy was obvious. He was back up there, gliding high.

Afterwards, Mr Lundberg gave him a certificate recording his appearance as the band's guest conductor.

Then it was back to the music, with all the Switzer residents enjoying the memorable event.