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BENEATH A HIGH-FLYING AMERICAN FLAG ATTACHED TO THE TOP OF AN EXTENDED MANLIFT DURING THE JULY 4 WEEKEND, LISTENERS ASSEMBLED ON THE HAVERHILL COMMON AND HEARD TWO HOURS OF OUTSTANDING MUSIC BY A GROUP OF TALENTED MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL YOUNGSTERS
Bernie Marvin
July 17, 2025
As the weekend temperatures climbed to nearly 90 degrees, the crowd of almost 100 sought the cooling shadows cast late Sunday afternoon, July 6, by gigantic maple trees that ringed the common. It was a perfect setting for one of America’s most patriotic holidays.
Court Street Arts had invited an interesting group of musicians to come and entertain people on the Sunday after Friday’s July 4th parades, BBQ, and ball games. It was an excellent way to cap off the long weekend. The Sunday of the concert was dry, hot, and the folks who assembled on Haverhill Common were all in great spirits and excited about listening to a couple of hours of an interesting assortment of music.
What I found intriguing about the musical group from Saline, Michigan, is that all its members were from Saline High School classes and ranged in age from 15 to 18 years old. That amazed most everyone who listened, because these talented musicians were well-practiced and played a variety of instruments (all without music in front of them), including the fiddle, mandolin, cello, bass, and other instruments that enabled them to perform a diverse and talented array of sounds, song and dance.
The songs included American Folk, fiddle, bluegrass, jazz, and western swing. The group’s repertoire also included Appalachian-style clogging, Irish step dancing, à la Michael Flatley (Riverdance), and tap dancing, all with the sharp sounds of heel and toe impacts on the group‘s small, hard-surfaced dance mat.
Even though the temperatures at the Haverhill Common venue were moderating a bit with the blazing sun slowly sinking away later in the evening, it was evident that kids from Saline, Michigan, are used to it or not interested enough to slow down or diminish their program’s tempo.
On and on they clogged, sang, and played. One robust number towards the end included all the complicated noises coming from one of those old railroad locomotives, the same type that chugged by many years ago, to the east of where the crowd was seated.
That number prompted some serious audience participation, with the crowd clapping at the giant engine’s steamy noises as it made its way along the track, all in the listeners’ imagination, of course. It was exceptionally well done. I’ve heard the music many times before, done by professionals in opera houses or on stage, but the kids’ Sunday night rendition was far superior to any version I had ever heard.
The Saline High School music experiment began in 1994 when Bob Phillips, the orchestra director, formed an extracurricular group with the primary goal of learning traditional American fiddle music, performing it in front of small audiences, and helping to perpetuate this historic type of music and dance.
The idea caught on, and today, the group has traveled around the USA and to some foreign countries, spreading the music for all to hear and enjoy. The group continues to travel widely, as they did over the July 4 weekend, taking this talented group of accomplished youth into small communities like Haverhill, New Hampshire, a long way from Saline, Michigan.
There were many on the Common that evening who hoped the group would return some day and thrill us all over again.

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