BELOVED BAND LEADER GOES TO REST

Beloved bandleader goes to rest

Sterling Weed Shown Directing The BFA Band For The 100th Anniversary Of BFA Fairfax

Sterling Weed dies at 104

By LEON THOMPSON
Messenger Staff Writer

ST. ALBANS CITY — The city, county and state lost a towering fixture of their arts communities Sunday when 104-year-old Sterling Weed, the nation's oldest active bandleader, died peacefully at his Stebbins Street home.

Weed died at 3:55 p.m. Sunday, in the same wood-framed bed he had slept in nightly since his mother, Etta, gave birth to him in it on July 20, 1901. His friend and former music student, Meredith Gillilan, of Fletcher, was by his side.

"He was very comfortable," Gillilan said this morning. "That bed - that's where he wanted to be."
Gillilan, executor of Weed's estate, was to arrange funeral services today. A complete obituary will appear in Tuesday's Messenger.

Weed's health degenerated over the past several weeks, according to Gillilan. He had become less responsive, and his appetite slackened. Aside from an occasional trip to the Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) for intravenous fluids, he would ingest,only a tablespoon of water when he was thirsty.

His last word was his best friend's name - "Meredith."

The last piece of music he heard Saturday was "Elmer's Tune," a piece Glenn Miller recorded in 1939. The first verse asks, "Why are the stars always winkin' and blinkin' above? What makes a fellow start thinkin' of fallin' in love? It's not the season, the reason is plain as the moon. It's just Elmer's Tune."

Weed's favorite song was "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," a piece about sweet, romantic love, although Weed may have secretly wished it was about his first love: music.

"It meant his life," Gillilan said of his music. "That's what he lived for."

Born in St. Albans, Weed grew up on his family's dairy farm just outside the city, on Fisher Pond Road. The NMC now sits on the old Weed farm meadow.

Weed had two wives who pre-deceased him. He never had children.

Weed's father, Baxter, led the original Weed's Orchestra. Sterling studied piccolo and flute is a child and began performing professionally in the family orchestra with his brothers at age 11. After returning home from Polk College in Indiana, he began his teaching career, eventually introducing music to more than 4,000 students. At one point, he simultaneously taught music at five area schools and led the Enosburg, Fairfax and Milton town ensembles.

As a young man, Weed also became leader of his father's orchestra, renaming it Weed's Imperial Orchestra in 1932. Weed's Imperial Orchestra was a staple of the summer dance circuit from the early 1930s to the 1950s. The group often played seven nights a week.

It is estimated Weed played for more than a million people.

Throughout his career, Weed amassed a 4,500-piece collection of sheet music he kept in a wooden cabinet crafted by his own hands. The collection was indexed in a red, three-ring binder he kept near his piano.

Weed's entire collection of music and instruments will go the St. Albans Historical Museum, where a second-floor room was dedicated to him in July 1997, when the city turned 100.

"He was a wonderful man, and he always supported the museum," said Dale Powers, museum director, today.

Powers said Weed often kept the museum staff entertained with his historical anecdotes about the St. Albans area - things missing from city and town records and history books.

"Every time we lose someone like that," Powers said, "we lose that kind of history. He was
invaluable."

Weed turned 100 in July 2001, a month after he received the Walter Cerf Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council.

More than 300 people gathered in St. Albans City's Taylor Park to help Weed celebrate his own centennial. Numerous dignitaries then read letters of praise from state and federal lawmakers, including President George W. Bush, former governor Howard Dean and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy.
"I'm astounded by you," Mayor Peter DesLauriers told Weed at the birthday bash.

After hearing of Weed's death this morning, the mayor sadly said the city has lost "a real asset."
"He was a major component to our city," DesLauriers said. "He gave so much more than he took. He lived a good life. I will miss him."

During one visit to Weed, the bandleader told the mayor he needed to start a community band.
"I think there is a county-wide-type band," 'the mayor told Weed.

"No," Weed said. "Every community should have one - Swanton, Enosburg, Highgate, Sheldon. Every town needs one, and you should get it together."

"Well, Mr. Weed," DesLauriers said, "I have a hard time playing the radio."

Years ago, Gillilan recalled, Weed took an Enosburg band to the New York World's Fair.

One member of the group teased Weed for bringing so much sheet music to their performance.
At the show, however, Weed's Imperial Orchestra fulfilled every audience request.

"I have to apologize to you, Mr. Weedf" the once cynical musician said. “You know what you're doing.”

Weed requested that his orchestra cease to exist after he died. It last performed in Underhill over the summer.

Weed's last public appearance was at an Aug. 16 benefit in his honor at the Grand Isle Lake House. He sat in a chair and greeted people all night, refusing to leave early.

"You guys did a good job," he told Gillilan after the event.

During his last interview with the Messenger, which was published just before he turned 104 in July, Weed offered his advice for a long life: "If you can live without being too nervous about one thing or another, you'll be fine. Nerves make people old. And don't drink. That's a bad thing."

The past few weeks have been tragic for Gillilan. In late August, she lost her husband, Cleon, 83, a popular sugarmaker who died from injuries he sustained while working in his sugarbush.

Yesterday, she lost Sterling Weed.

"It's a good thing I have a good family to support me," she said this morning. "I don't think the real crush has come yet. I just hope I don't crash."