BEE-WARE: “I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news, but the
bees are out already. My dog got stung trying to eat one,” our
caller said Tuesday.

Not sure what kind of bee this was, but we have been anxiously
awaiting news of the honey bee. Given their importance to
agriculture, we hope they survived the winter – with apologies to
bee-eating dogs.

BIRD HELP: Shirley calls to tell readers to put some peanut
butter out by the bird feeders to provide sustenance for returning
robins until their normal diet – worms – begin to re-appear.

MUSIC NOTE: Joe Bennett of West Lafayette, Ind., writes about
two Bradford businesses but segues into a possible new topic for
RTS – the music scene.

He writes, “I have not seen anything in your series on Bradford
businesses about music stores. I remember two from the 1950s. Ray
Studley owned a store on West Washington Street. The other was
owned by Nick Sinnabaldi (not sure of that spelling). My father,
Fran Bennett, who played in several Bradford bands, frequented both
stores.”

“This brings me to the topic of the live music scene that
thrived in Bradford in the ’40s and ’50s. Many bars and clubs
featured dance music in those days, and there were a lot of very
good musicians. Every wedding reception included a live band.

“My father, who played lead guitar and sang, led the Fran
Bennett Trio for many years. He also had a four-piece combo that
would practice once a week at our house in Lewis Run. On summer
nights, people out for a walk would gather outside and listen for
hours. Before forming his own band, my father played with Bruce
Weldy’s trio which for a time performed regularly on WESB
radio.

“Other musicians I recall from that era were Bob Coy, Jack
Wells, Ray Arnold, Pete and Larry Schwartz, Howard Matthews, Fred
and Bill Allen, Lou Tantallo, Al Macia, Fred Genest, ‘Little
Civics’ Pascuzzi, Vince Galati, Jimmy Poyer, and Dick Cardamone,
who billed himself as Duke Dawson. I’m sure I have forgotten the
names of many others.

“Most of these men worked at full-time jobs and supplemented
their incomes by playing music at night and on weekends. They
didn’t become famous, but they took pride in their music, had fun
and provided a lot of enjoyment.”