Petrolia Citizens Band and White Rose Band

A brass band was reported to be in Petrolia as early as 1869. The band was popular when it existed, playing at events such as the Church of England ladies' bazaar, roller skating rinks, and church picnics. The town was proud to claim the band as their own. But short term leadership and financial problems plagued the band. As in other Lambton county towns, the band folded and then was resurrected and then folded again.

The band came to be known as the Petrolia Citizens Band. It was featured in an October 3, 1981, article in the Sarnia Observer. The article recalled the band winning first place honours in class C at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition for three years in a row -- 1927, 1928, 1929 -- under bandmaster William Taylor. Charles Goldsmith, one of the band members, was interviewed for this article. He said the featured bands would march through the crowds at the CNE. Plus, band members got in free without paying the 25 cent admission! The band received a grant from town council along with receiving donations from concert-goers. The bandmaster William Taylor was employed by the Canadian Oil refinery.

See Charles Whipp and Edward Phelps. Petrolia: 1866 - 1966. Petrolia: Petrolia Advertiser Topic, 1966. p. 42.

The photo below is from Glen C. Philips Lambton: An Illustrated History of the County Sarnia: Cheshire Cat Press, 1999, p. 110.

Percie Cox became the bandmaster in 1939 with the sponsorship of the Canadian Oil Company, the company that started up the White Rose Motor and Gasoline service stations. Percie Cox grew up in a Salvation Army household in England and played cornet and piano. He and his family emigrated to Canada and lived in various places in Ontario, including Port Arthur, Huntsville, and Toronto. In all of these places, Percie played cornet and organ and was a bandmaster of the local concert band. He was invited to Petrolia to head up and direct the Citizens Band which was renamed the White Rose Band when he arrived in 1939. He was 40 years old at the time. The Canadian Oil Company hired him to be the bandmaster of the band along with holding down a job at its Petrolia refinery office. The band was talented; he took them to the Toronto CNE in 1940, 1941, and 1947 where they won first prize in the class B division. During world war II, thirty eight band members joined the armed forces. Despite that, the band never had less than thirty five members. Norm Sutherland, in his notes as secretary, attributes this to the the efforts of Percie Cox maintaining a junior band and giving lessons. The Canadian Oil Company continued to subsidize the band until the company moved to Chemical Valley in Sarnia in 1948. At that time, the band changed its name to the Petrolia Concert Band.

See http://www.petroliaheritage.com/Augustus%20Cox.pdf

Also see the newspaper The Independent, December 3, 2013 (http://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2013/12/03/white-rose-petrolias-new-town-flower/ )