BRUCE COLLARD
Life Member
Honour Wall

 

Bruce was a member of the City of Greater Dandenong Band for 55 years and served our band passionately with his heart and soul. He was a gentle, kind, diligent, and beautiful man who in our eyes embodied the meaning of a true bandsperson. He loved our band and the wider brass band community, and remains deeply respected and admired by all those who were fortunate enough to meet him.
 

Bruce Collard's name is synonymous with the City of Greater Dandenong Band. As the fourth person in our band's history to be inducted into the City of Greater Dandenong Band Honour Wall for extraordinary service, Bruce is, and will always be, a true legend of our organisation.
 

Bruce played with the Sunshine Band in the late 1940s as well as the Rushworth Citizens Band alongside his brother Alan and under the tutelage of his father who was the Bandmaster. When the family moved to Melbourne in 1951, Alan, Bruce and their father joined the Northcote Band and then later the Coburg City Band where they played for 12 years. Subsequently, Bruce was awarded Life Membership of Coburg City Band in 1962.
 

After moving to the 'other side of town' Alan and Bruce joined the Dandenong RSL & Citizens’ Band as it was known then, in 1965. Alan remains an active playing member of our band and has also been inducted into our Honour Wall and awarded Life Membership.
 

Bruce joined the Band Committee in 1970 and over the following 25 years served as a General Committee Member for nine years, Junior Vice President for three years, and the Assistant Secretary for eight years. In addition, Bruce was also the Band Custodian for 25 years and Band Historian for many more.
 

Bruce has played flugel, baritone, tenor horn, and cornet, depending on the requirements of the band at the time. He was a part of many major achievements of the band including several competition wins in "C, "B", and "A" grades over the years and has performed with the band and served our community at more than 1000 engagements during his time.
 

On top of this, Bruce rarely missed a Band rehearsal and was an integral part of the band fabric and culture. His knowledge, love and passion for banding was obvious and he has been instrumental in passing this on to younger players.
 

During his time with the band Bruce has received a number of awards including 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years’ Service Awards to Dandenong Band as well as the VBL 60 Years of Services award, VBL Badge of Merit, and the VBL Badge of Honour in appreciation of Outstanding Service to Brass Bands. In 2015, together with his brother Alan, Bruce was awarded a Letter Under Seal from the City of Greater Dandenong commemorating his outstanding achievement to community banding.
 

Our former Band President, Timothy Hellyer, is one of Bruce’s grandchildren. Bruce introduced Tim to the cornet at age seven and two years later Tim joined the Dandenong Band alongside his Grandfather and Great Uncle. Following in his Grandfather's footsteps, 21 years later Tim is a Life Member of the Dandenong Band and served as Band President for 10 years. Tim is incredibly thankful to Bruce for passing on his love for music and for being able to learn and play alongside Bruce for so many years and share in his life-long passion for brass band.

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Bruce dedicated immeasurable time to the City of Greater Dandenong Band and we will forever be indebted to him. He went above and beyond working tirelessly for our band on so many different levels and in so many different ways. Our band would not be the band it is today, if not for the extraordinary service of Bruce Collard.