Donated By: The Stratford Royal Canadian Legion Concert Band and Mrs. Keith Adair and Family
First Presented: 1976
Criteria: Best Community Concert Band
Keith Adair was a highly respected member of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford and served on the Kiwanis Music Festival as Vice-Chair in 1970 and 1971. He also served on the Trophies and Prizes Committee from 1972 through 1976. It was Keith who suggested, through his son , Tim, that the Kiwanis Club should undertake the building of a band shell in Upper Queen's Park so that the local bands would have a suitable place the perform out of doors in the summer. The band shell was built by the Club in 1981 and, since that time, the citizens of Stratford have enjoyed concerts in the park every Wednesday and Sunday evening during July and August.
Keith had been a percussionist since his youth. He joined the Stratford Boys Band in the early 1940s. As an adult, he joined the C.N.R. Band, which became the Royal Canadian Legion Concert Band when the railway left town. The band is now known as the Stratford Concert Band.
As a member of the Kiwanis Festival Committee, Keith suggested that a class for Bands be included in the Festival. It seemed fitting that the Adair Family and the Legion Concert Band donate a trophy for the Best Concert Band in his memory.
