|
Born on the
15th of August 1928, the son of Gregorio Attard and
Maria Assunta nee' Galea, Joseph Attard (Tal-Bużaqq) is
synonymous with the St Joseph Band Club. He is in fact
regarded as the second founding father of the Society
after resurrecting the Band from the “dark period” of
the 1950's and 60's. Joseph took his primary education
in Ghajnsielem and later continued his studies at the
Gozo Sacred Heart Seminary. After finishing school, he
started to work at the St Joseph's institute in
Ghajnsielem where among other things, he administered
the Band from 1944 - 1955 together with the directors of
the same institute. During the same period he also used
to offer his services to the Ghajnsielem Parish and the
community in general. |
 |
As soon as the second
world war ended,
the St Joseph Band club entered into a
challenging period fraught with problems and obstacles. Several
of its best musicians began to emigrate and by the start of the
fifties the Band was in crisis. The number of musicians fell to
around a score: new musicians were few and far between and soon
fell to a trickle and the Band dissolved. This is a “dark
period” in the Society’s and the village’s musical history and
there is little concrete detail to follow what exactly happened.
Years
passed. One generation followed another and by the mid sixties
the youths of the village began to talk about re-founding the
village’s Musical Society. It was a hard time in the village.
The first band march on
7th May 1967 after the
St Joseph Band club was reborn
Joseph Attard was
largely responsible for moving the Society into its new premises
But in May 1966, the old
war-horse, Joseph Attard together with some other enthusiasts
made a formal plea to the Director of the Institute for the use
of the Institute and the old Society’s musical instruments. With
this plea granted, these members were successful in engaging the
services of the up-and-coming Mro. Guzeppi Farrugia, son of
mentor Mro. Mikiel Farrugia.
On the 13th
April 1967, the band gave its first concert as preparation for
its first march some time later. The first Committee was formed
with Father Galea Rapa as its first President and Joseph Attard
as the Secretary, a position he kept for 30 years, until 1997.
On the 7th May the “new” band with an “old" name played its
first tunes in a march which was attended by a large and
enthusiastic crowd. This was the start of a new era for the “St.
Joseph Musical Society”.
This picture shows
Joseph Attard together with other members of the committee
during a visit by President Dr. Censu Tabone.
Joseph Attard was also
responsible of moving the St Joseph Band Club into its new
premises in the main square. In fact, from the beginning
the problem of an adequate headquarters always loomed large. At
first the Band occupied part of the Institute’s building and as
space was no problem the Band could organise cultural and social
activities, besides the basic musical ones. But after some time,
Joseph Attard together with Club President Amabile Cauchi signed
a contract for a piece of land centrally located near
Ghajnsielem’s New Parish Church of Our Lady of Loreto. Joseph
Attard worked hard to ensure that the building of the new
premises does not take long. But thanks to his enthusiasm, by
1976 the new headquarters was functioning and immediately became
not only the musical center of the community but also a social
and cultural club.
On 12th December 1997,
Joseph Attard won the third edition of the "Gieh Ghajnsielem"
Award for his indispensable contribution to the St Joseph Band
Club. He retired a few months later to give way to a younger
generation which is bearing the fruit of the hard work and
dedication he gave to St Joseph Band throughout all his life.
|
