The Standpipe column (BDN, June 24) put out a call for musicians to take part in Bangor’s Fourth of July parade. If musicians are in short supply now, what will be the situation when the full effect of current budget reductions will be felt?

It is ironic that in the present day there are millions to be spent on Blockbuster movies and outrageous salaries for athletes, and the activities that make for a pleasant life are cut back or eliminated.

I started my musical “career” in the depths of the Great Depression when a school music program was started. Many of my age group still enjoy playing and contribute, I hope, to the enjoyment of others.

On June 29 several Maine Community Bands will gather at Augusta for a day of music and friendship in honor of Robert Browne Hall. Hall was a composer and bandsman who many think was the equal of John Philip Sousa. R.B. Hall was born in Bowdoinham and for a time directed the Bangor Band in the late 1800s.

The Maine Community Bands, plus a fine band from Canada, will include members from the teens through the eighties or more! What other activity that starts in grade school can match that? Charles C. Libby Sandy Point