The Band Serenades a Surprise Wedding
A popular music teacher and the leader of the Aberdeen Cornet Band marry, only to be surprised by their own bandmates.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fred Smith, the popular leader of the Aberdeen cornet band, and Miss Lizzie Hightower, one of the favorite teachers of the Aberdeen schools, were married Friday evening, March 18, by Rev. T. W. Butler, at the home of the bride. The bride was handsomely attired in ecru-colored faille silk trimmed with pink chiffon. After the ceremony, the bridal party repaired to the home of Mrs. J. R. Evans, the groom's mother. Unknown to the couple, Mrs. Evans had invited about fifty guests. Fred had cunningly hidden all the band music to prevent the band from playing in his honor, but about 8:30 the 'boys' serenaded him just the same. Marshal Graham stepped forward and, in a neat speech, presented the groom with a handsome silver caster on behalf of the band. The evening concluded with refreshments and well-wishes.
“Fred had very cunningly hidden all the band music to prevent the band from playing in his honor, but about 8:30 the 'boys' serenaded him just the same.”
Small-town life in 1890s Aberdeen revolved around the church, the school, and the band. The surprise serenade captures a sense of civic intimacy that remains the goal of local social life even as the city's scale has shifted.
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