Westminster Municipal Band performs Annual Summer's End Concert

By Timothy Cox

A beautiful warm late Summer day, accompanied the patriotic sounds of the Westminster Municipal Band, as they performed their annual End-of-Summer concert.

The Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026 event attracted several Carroll County residents including county councilman Kevin Dayoff and Westminster mayor, Mona Becker.

The concert was held at the Belle Grove Square at Bond Street and Park Avenue - in downtown Westminster.

The band played several numbers with a patriotic theme - including Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America. Conductor Ellen Nash-Smith led the band in lieu of regular band director Jeremy Norris' absence.

The 90-minute program also attracted Robert Cumberland, an 86-year-old Navy veteran. Cumberland spent four years in the military and was deployed to Cuba in 1961, to assist in the historic Bay of Pigs military campaign. Cumberland said it was a dangerous mission and he's grateafful to have returned to Westminster after his four-year military assignment ended.

The 1958 Westminster High School graduate said he was married twice - including his 1968 marriage to Joan Cumberland which lasted 56 years until she died in in 2024. Together, the couple had 7 children and three grandchildren. He retired from BG&E after 40-plus years of service. The Navy vet said he thinks about his deceased wife nearly everyday.

Cumberland said he's a regular supporter of the Westminster Municipal Band considering several of his friends and associates, like himself, are also longtime members of the Voluntary Westminster Fire Department.

The Westminster Municipal Band is one of the nation's longest-running marching bands, having formed in 1893.

(ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Timothy Cox is a member of the Westminster Municipal Band. The veteran journalist can be reached at teacawks2@gmail.com.)