By the late 1950's, the band was trying hard to revitalize itself. They tried a variety of new approaches including, for the first time, opening up band membership to females. The first half of the sixties saw a new solution for the band. The band began a joint venture with the Oil City American Legion Band. The Legion Band had been one of the mainstays of Venango County music, winning a string of eight national championships. The "40 and 8" had been one of the top bands of the country in the post-war period, but they were also feeling the pinch by the end of the fifties. The two bands never actually merged. The Oil City Band appeared on Monday nights; then on the following Thursday, the same group would appear in Franklin, performing the same concert in different uniforms as the Franklin Silver Cornet Band. Roy Smith and Carl Brozeski alternated programs, but when Roy directed in Franklin he was the "director" of the Franklin Band. When he directed the same program in Oil City, he was the "assistant director" of the Oil City group. In 1963, Carl was the leader of both groups. In 1964, the job was turned over to Harold Pixley, and that marks the turnaround for the Franklin Band. 1964 was the last year for the co-op band program. Franklin players felt they were contributing more than the Oil City group, and withdrew from the partnership. Pix began actively recruiting players (both male and female) from the high school, and the band's ranks began to swell again, after a period of stagnation. Most significantly, Pix recruited the new music teacher at Franklin for the band and for the director's chair-- by 1969 he was officially the band's associate director. Here's the band, probably in 1969-- Ed can be seen in the third rown on the left. In the back row, band president Richard Abel is standing on the end, and Pix is right next to him. The majorettes are on loan from the high school.