MACHIAS – On the far side of Washington County, five older gentlemen and a woman in her late 60s like to celebrate their lifelong loves at this time of the year.

The six make up the Old Timers Band. Their true love is the old-time music they make together.

“We are having a ball,” said trombonist Frank “Diddy” Hall of Machias, at 81 the oldest of the group, which also goes by the name Orange River Jazz.

Several of the band members knew each other as teenagers, or have played together for 30 or 40 years. They know by now how to fill a dance floor. “High Society,” “I Don’t Know Why I Love You Like I Do” and the “Tennessee Waltz” are three tunes that put the mood right every time.

A summertime following comes from well beyond Washington County to hear the Old Timers’ swing and jazz music at every-other-Saturday dances at the Hillcrest Family Restaurant in Wesley.

The rest of the months, they play their sassy, brassy sound locally – at wedding receptions or dinner-dances at American Legion halls and sportsmen’s clubs.

On Friday, Feb. 11, the band plays a first-time occasion, a “Sweethearts Dance” at the Carter’s Banquet Hall in Machias. The dance doors open immediately after the tables are cleared from a fund-raising Chocolate Fling, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Given that the chocolate event and dance benefits the Washington County Children’s Program for youngsters with special needs, the Old Timers will likely be playing Friday for a new, younger audience.

Mostly when they play, Hall said, “Our dancers are not exactly spring chickens.”

Nor are the musicians.

Hovey Hall of Lubec, 72, is the trumpet player. While not related to Diddy Hall, he is the brother of Alvin Hall of Whiting, at 75 the tenor sax player among them.

Lottie Geel of Jonesboro, 68, joins them on the piano. Don Parker of Lubec, 61, plays drums and Charles Fritz of East Machias, 61, adds guitar.

The result is big-band tunes from the ’30s and ’40s.

“We all love to play,” Geel said. “We play everywhere for everything, whether it pays or doesn’t pay. It’s the idea of loving to play.”

Several of them knew each other as teenagers. That’s when Geel, then Lottie Look, entered talent shows in the area playing the trumpet (right hand), piano (left hand) and drums (left foot for cymbal, right for the bass) all at once.

Arthritis and other health limitations have slowed Geel a bit since, but the band rallies around her whenever she returns to the stage with them. She still gets teased, she says, about being the only female in the group.

The Old Timers reconvened about four years ago when the Hillcrest Restaurant opened its dance hall in Wesley. They play generally May through October there, or once the hall can be opened each spring without the pipes freezing.

Twenty years and more earlier, they had played the grange dances in Wesley. The revival of Saturday night dancing has brought a renewed vigor to all their lives.

“We play slow, medium or fast with a Dixieland sound,” Hovey Hall, the trumpet player, described. “We play no particular musical variety, but we bring people to their feet.”

Saturday nights in summer are just as special for the musicians as for the dancers. They have all played throughout their careers and retirements.

Diddy Hall spent his career as a mechanic in Jonesport, then retired from the Cutler Naval Base. Alvin Hall still runs a home heating fuel business each winter. Hovey Hall, for years a meat cutter, stays active by playing taps at veterans’ memorial services.

Geel taught piano and worked for Washington Hancock Community Agency until retiring. Parker, semi-retired, works in welding, metalwork and fishing. Fritz will retire this spring after 28 years in the buildings and grounds department at the University of Maine at Machias.

There are about 30 regular if elderly couples who turn up every time they see a mention of music by the Old Timers.

Among the faithful followers are John and Ardis Hayman, who drive in from Danforth. Carroll and Joyce Moore come from Abbot, near Monson, for each of the dances, taking a hotel overnight before driving back. John and Olive Peters don’t mind driving in each dance from Holden.

Newcomers since last summer are Everett and Katherine Potter, married 67 years, from Gouldsboro. Their children drive them, then videotape them on the floor.

The older sweethearts who attend Friday’s dance in Machias will dance to the music of their youth. But younger chocolate lovers who stick around for the evening will get introduced to a musical era that simply doesn’t get much play anymore.

Friday’s festivities should be a fun fit for all.

Take it from the oldest musician, Diddy Hall, who says: “You can eat all you want, dance all night and go home without a calorie.”

The Old Timers Band plays from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, at Carter’s Banquet Hall in Machias. Tickets cost $8 per single or $15 per couple. The dance follows the benefit Chocolate Fling also at the hall, 4 to 7 p.m. The fling and dance benefit the Washington County Children’s Program. Call 255-3426 for information.