Founder of the Kiwanis Bandshell - Tim Adiar
Founder of the Kiwanis Bandshell - Tim Adiar
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Tim Adair
It has been a little more than 48 years(as of 2025) since the Kiwanis Club of Stratford built the bandshell in Upper Queen’s Park, which, not coincidentally, is roughly the same lifespan of its Concerts in the Park series. 2019. which, not coincidentally, is roughly the same lifespan of its Concerts in the Park series.
In 2019, the Kiwanis Club recognized the man behind both of those successes, local musician Tim Adair, with its most prestigious award – the Mel Osbourne Fellowship — for his tireless efforts towards bringing free, live music to the picturesque Stratford park every week in the summer. “For more than 30 years he’s been instrumental in providing music in the park,” said David MacLennan, president of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford. “It does so much to build community. I personally heard from someone in London last year who said, ‘I had no idea these concerts were here. I’m coming back every week.’”
Prior to leading the charge to have the bandshell built, Tim Adair performed with his father, Keith Adair, and the Stratford Concert Band in front of the Tom Patterson and Festival theatres before shows. Realizing the city could benefit from an outdoor concert venue in Upper Queen’s Park, he pitched the bandshell to the Kiwanis Club as a construction project in the mid-1980s, launched a fundraising campaign to make his and his father’s dream a reality, and saw it come to fruition in 1986, a decade after his father died.
Adair said “Over the past 32 years the concert series has continued to increase in popularity, not just among those who attend but also among touring bands. This year, a total of 25 bands approached him asking to perform but with only 10 concerts booked for the 2019 season, he actually had to turn more than half of them away. The Stratford Concert Band that was formed in 1907 plays regularly at the bandshell ". Source: Beacon Herald Article 2019
On Aug. 4, 2008, the City of Stratford dedicated the bandshell in Upper Queens Park to the Revols. A plaque that bears the band's name and the names of its members was unveiled. After the ceremony, there was a concert by Plum Loco (Kalmusky and Till's band) followed by Ronnie Hawkins and his Hawks. Source: Wikipedia The Revols
The Stratford Concert Band often play here at the Kiwanis bandshell Photo Fred Gonder
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