In the early years of Hinckley, the center of town hosted summer band concerts in a band stand a few steps east of here and also in the middle of Lincoln Avenue and Sycamore Street. Town bands, military bands, and later school bands played there. The most notable director was R.B. Wight, who, with the help of his wife Edna, drew students into instrumental music from 1941 to 1966. The bands performed in parades, fairs, entertainment parks, and concerts, and Wight built school pride by writing the music to the Hinckley-Big Rock loyalty song. During this period, Hinckley and HBR soloists, ensembles, and bands won repeated superior ratings, state championships, and the Governor's trophy, and the Wights showed that many could excel in music.