Donated By: Kiwanis Youth Band
First Presented: 1981
Criteria: Most Deserving Secondary School Intermediate Band

In 1977, the Kiwanis Club of Stratford founded the Kiwanis Youth Band in co-operation with James Ervin from the music department of Northwestern Secondary School. The club members felt that young musicians who had developed considerable skills in the secondary music program should have an opportunity to continue to develop and use these skills. The Kiwanis Club agreed to raise the money to purchase instruments so that the students could have access to them daily. James Ervin agreed to conduct the rehearsals twice a week.
The band performed in parks, parades, shopping malls, and at a variety of public functions. It made its first appearance in the Kiwanis Festival in 1978 and won its class that year as well as the next three. It also won the band competition at the CNE three years in a row. James Ervin worked very hard to establish the Youth Band during its first years. Mr. Ervin retired from Northwestern in 1979. In recognition of his efforts, the Kiwanis Youth Band donated the James S. Ervin Trophy for a school band with the highest mark.