DUMB band practices for 250th anniversary Tea Party

CHESTERTOWN — On Sunday, the silence was happily broken around 6:45 p.m. when the sound of brass instruments, snare pops, the booming of bass drums the crashing of symbols and the stomping of feet were heard down High Street.

This was accompanied by Mark Mumford cheerfully bellowing instructions to his marchers.

Sparking the impromptu performance was the DUMB band practicing for the 250th anniversary of the Chestertown Tea Party on May 24.

DUMB, is an an acronym for Delmarva United Marching Band, and not an insult to Mumford’s excellent performers.

“We’re just a bunch of marching dummies,” Mumford once had joked.

Fortunately, downtown Chestertown on a Sunday, the band had no cars to worry about, and people stopped and observed their practice, appreciating the work it takes to organize the band.