Selma Pulsifer, center, rehearses with the trombone section of the R.B. Hall Memorial Band in August 2019 at Williams Elementary School in Oakland. Morning Sentinel photo by Michael G. Seamans

The R.B. Hall Memorial Band will present an outdoor concert at Waterfront Park on Willey Point Road, in Oakland on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to honor Selma Pulcifur, who passed away in December.

Pulsifer was an institution, both in her community and among the countless musicians who were privileged to have known her over the years. She was the last surviving charter member of the R. B. Hall Memorial Band, where she played trombone for 55 years and served in various offices, including president.

In 2019, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the band, Selma recounted in an interview that she began playing in 1944 when a friend told her that the school band director needed a trombone. Selma laughed, “And I said, “What’s a trombone?”

Selma fondly recalled, “I tried this old trombone, and, oh, it had the most beautiful tone, and I just fell in love with it.”

Selma played trombone for over 75 years, last performing with the R.B. Hall Band in the summer of 2022 at Clinton Fair, a longstanding tradition and her favorite.

“I have to admit I’m getting older, but get me in a chair and I can play. I still have lots of wind. It’s natural.”

Sadly, the hot weather prevented her from performing at the fair in 2023, as she had hoped to do.

Selma’s final words in the interview were “I just hope I never have to give up the band. It’s been a very important part of my life.”

In gratitude for her contribution to keeping the community band tradition alive in Maine, the annual R.B. Hall Day festival, held in Bridgton this year, was dedicated to Selma.

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