By Mark McNeil, the Hamilton Spectator
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For decades it sat in an old desk drawer with a bunch of yellowed newspaper clippings and a Ziploc plastic bag of military badges.
No one talked about the vaguely remembered sheet music inside a tattered envelope. It was just part of some papers left behind by a long-gone family member.
But a few weeks ago Brenda Robinson got to thinking about her great, great grandfather George R. Robinson, for whom the bandshell at Gage Park is named.
The bandshell had been in the news. Vandals had stolen sections of copper from its side leaving an unsightly scar. And, unrelated to the damage, the Festival of Friends announced it wasn’t going to be using the bandshell or Gage Park anymore because the event was moving to the Ancaster Fairgrounds.
So he opened the drawer, and gently pulled out the music. The paper was tattered around the edges but the print was still very legible. The piano arrangement was published in 1879 in Hamilton and called The Leander Waltz. It was written by “G. Robinson” and “respectfully dedicated to the Leander Rowing Club.”
A few phone calls later and it became apparent that Brenda had unearthed a bit of a musical treasure of Hamilton history.
Click here to hear the piece played