FALMOUTH MA

FALMOUTH MA

Oscar Wolf Bandshell

Built - 1972

The town of Falmouth is located in the southwestern part of Cape Cod and is ideally situated as a base for day tripping to areas such as Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Plymouth and Newport Rhode Island although the residents suggest you just find a comforable beach, restaurant or other location in the area and enjoy the coolest of summertime breezes in their own town.

Falmouth was ot always just a quiet Cape Cod resort town but was part of an area that was bombarded from the sea by the British during the American Revolution and then again during the War of 1812. The town rebounded after these critical times however, and became a shipbuilding, whaling and manufacturing center of salt and glass exports. The town is also known to be the birthplace of Katharine Lee Bates, who authored the national humn "America The Beautiful." The Congregational Church with its revered Paul Revere Bell and the Old Quaker Meetinghouse are well preserved still and great tourist attractions.

Residents will urge you to attend a weekend band concert on the Falmouth Common, while visiting their town and where there is a large expanse of green grass and tall shade trees. The town's bandshell on the common was built in 1972 and is named after one of its prominent citizens, Oscar Wolf. It is used for the main purpose of providing a permanent structure to house the Falmouth Town Band which has a roster of 123 members as of this writing.

The bandshell was financed entirely by town funds and contributions and has a special feature of a closset storage area for equipment, stands, chairs, etc. The structure is located on this beautiful piece of land next to Falmouth Harbor on Scranton Avenue conveniently located near the bustling downtown area.

The most important event on the bandshell to date was when the town celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. On this occasion, the Falmouth Town Band performed a clever program of "Ocean" and "Sea Theme" music. Also, the Boston Univeristy Alumni Bnad performed a joint concert with the town band a few years prior during one of the summer programs. The town averages around 10 concerts during the summer months on Thursday evenings.

INFORMATION FURNISHED BY:
Linda Dow Whitehead, Director Town Band
Coordinator & Department Head of School Dept