Annie Paquette remembered for his music, art and kindness

The Lakes Region community is mourning a local legend who rocked stages for more than five decades as leader of Annie and the Orphans, and also created commercial artwork for businesses and people near and far.

Anatole "Annie" Paquette, 77, died peacefully at his home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on April 9 surrounded by family. The former resident of Meredith and Center Harbor — who was born in Laconia — is remembered fondly by friends, family and others in the community touched by his kindness and generosity over the years.

“He was a guy who had like, 500 best friends,” his daughter Danielle Paquette-Horne said. “My dad was a heck of a man. Every single person I talk to about my father has such great things to say about him.”

As owner of Paquette Signs, his work could be seen throughout the Lakes Region. Whether it was the lettering of the M/S Mount Washington, or signage of houses, boats and vehicles, his artwork was seemingly everywhere.

“I have so much of his artwork, but all you really have to do is look around, and you’ll see it,” Paquette-Horne said. “He won awards for his commercial art over the years, and was such a good artist.”

But for many, it was the rock music of Annie and the Orphans that made him a larger-than-life character since the 1960s.

The band, which over time became a revolving cast of characters playing shows led by Paquette as the energetic front man, was the stuff of legends. An estimated 45 musicians played with Paquette over his nearly six decades performing.

“Rock and Roll with Anatole” was the Annie and the Orphans slogan, and they did just that, most notably as a mainstay at the Sandwich Fair.

Sandwich Fair legend

Annie and the Orphans played on the Sandwich Fair stage 56 times between 1987 and 2022, in front of adoring Oldies fans of all ages.

Robin West was a board member of the Sandwich Fair for 22 years before retiring last year, and she knew Annie and the Orphans well. She said Annie and the Orphans is “almost irreplaceable.”

“One thing that stands out most to me about Annie and the Orphans is that any time they played at the fair, rain, snow, or shine, they filled the bleachers,” West said. “They were packed no matter when they played. There was a huge, dedicated following.”

The band would hit the stage in the Monday afternoon slot to close out the fair, which annually falls on Columbus Day weekend, and they would finish things out in patriotic fashion singing “God Bless America,” while waving an American flag.

The band played their final performance at the fair on Oct. 10, 2022, and in proper fashion, Paquette led the way as the crowd stood and sang along while waving small flags he handed out. The show ended as it neared sunset, and the stage was officially dedicated to Annie and the Orphans. A plaque now hangs above where bands continue to play at the fair.

West said they didn’t fully realize the impact Annie and the Orphans had until they were no longer playing for them, as Paquette’s Parkinson’s disease symptoms progressed.

“We’ve never filled the bleachers like that since, on a Monday afternoon,” West said.

Like many fairgoers, Sandwich Fair President Bryan Peaslee recalls seeing Annie and the Orphans when he was just a child at the fair with his parents.

“He started at the fair the year I was born, in 1987, and has transcended generations,” Peaslee said. “From the fair’s perspective, it is a huge loss, and we owe him a debt of gratitude for all those years."

Long before being in charge, Peaslee’s involvement was with the tractor pull, and he admits he didn’t spend much time sitting and watching. But he does remember Annie and the Orphans were there, year after year.

When Peaslee became a member of the fair’s board of directors in 2014, he said booking Annie and the Orphans was an automatic centerpiece, and they would do what they could to fill the slots around them.

“He was like a local celebrity, and known to so many people in so many different ways. And at the Sandwich Fair, he was our guy,” Peaslee said. “Our hometown rockstar. That was part of why so many people gravitated to the show stage. He is a big part of the Sandwich Fair history in that respect.”

Performer at heart

Paquette was born in Laconia, on Sept. 9, 1948, and raised in Meredith, graduating from Inter-Lakes High School in 1966, before studying sign painting and commercial art at Butera School of Art in Boston. After graduating in 1969, Paquette enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and was a general draftsman for the next six years.

But it was his high school days that really shaped his future as performer, after being inspired in 1964, when he saw The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show." As a sophomore in high school, Paquette was blown away by their stage presence.

“That was the moment he said, ‘I’m going to do that. I’m starting a band,’” Paquette-Horne said. “And he did. His parents were extremely supportive.”

Paquette-Horne said the only instrument he ever took lessons for was trumpet, and hated it. He wanted to be a drummer, so Paquette went to Greenlaw’s Music in Laconia, and bought a kit. Thus, Annie and the Orphans was born, and they went on to play all over the Granite State, and beyond.

His younger brother and bandmate, Tom Paquette, admitted they didn’t have much talent to start, but everyone in the band was on board, due to Paquette’s unrivaled enthusiasm.

“He got classmates and other people around him, a network of people, and none of us were any good,” Tom said. “We weren’t really musicians. A garage band is a true statement here.”

Tom said his brother’s energy was contagious, and over time, things started to click. Annie was the one carrying the ball, he said, and he kept progressing and finding musicians to play along with, over time.

One of his fellow musicians was bassist Bob McNab, who Paquette lovingly called “Mac.” He was with the band from the start, just two years younger than Annie at age 14, and they went on to play together until the end of the band’s career.

“He was one of the longest Orphans in the band who stayed with my dad,” Paquette-Horne said. “A lot of people went in and out, but those two were always together.”

McNab played bass, and Tom said he kept getting better and better, and really became a top-notch performer.

“It was always a good time,” McNab said. “I’d kid with guys in the band that there were songs we do that were never the same way twice. Annie would switch things up in the middle. We arranged on the fly.”

Paquette decided at some point his drumming days were over, and stepped out to take the lead.

Annie and the Orphans played all over the map.

They played multiple “battle of the bands” in the Lakes Region, and Paquette-Horne said they won a lot in the 1960s. Annie and the Orphans also played for 34 summers on the Mount, and played summer concerts throughout the region in a number of gazebos.

Paquette-Horne said he played at the Trump Tower in Atlantic City in the late 1980s, performed on the Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas for the Small Town Big Deal Vintage Tractor Cruise in 2016, and when former NASCAR driver Brad Leighton won the Busch North, he hired Paquette to play his victory party.

Annie and the Orphans played throughout New England, and also New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

It became a generational family affair when Tom’s son, also named Tom, joined the band in 2014. Paquette had always been supportive of his nephew's creative endeavors, recognizing his musical talent at a young age, and inspiring him to become a musician. He currently plays professionally in Nashville. Paquette-Horne said having “Little Tom” play with him was one of Paquette's proudest moments.

Annie and the Orphans had a reunion on Oct. 16, 2021, at Merrill Hall at Plymouth State University, in Plymouth, where there were more than 200 guests. Paquette had a long invitation list, and 37 living band members attended the reunion, with the memory of 12 others then-deceased celebrated.

“It was epic,” Paquette-Horne said. “We invited all the musicians that had played with dad over the 57 years. My father kept detailed records of all the gigs he played, including lots of memorabilia, costumes, signs, instruments, and photos over the ages. We utilized the vast space of the event center to set up a museum in chronological order to display all of his collection.”

Tom said even with the Parkinson’s disease progressing, Paquette rose to the occasion.

“He was on top of his game,” Tom said. “What a class act.”

McNab looks back on his time with Annie and the Orphans as some of his best moments.

“It was the most fun that I’ve ever had in my entire life,” McNab said. “With that band, that’s one thing I’d never change. I had a ball.”

Loving family member and friend

McNab said they not only played music together for all those years, but knew each other from childhood.

“He is the opposite personality of mine,” McNab said. “He’s an extrovert, and that balanced me out. We got along perfectly together.”

A common comment from friends and family was his multitude of best friends.

“He knows everybody,” McNab said. “It wasn’t a party until he got there.”

Paquette-Horne said her dad had no enemies or even wanted to fight. If he thought someone was in the wrong, they would somehow still be friends with him. Tom agreed, saying Paquette was a lover, not a fighter.

Paquette lived with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis for 12 years before he died, and it was a slow, but sure, progression. He eventually moved to Mississippi, and locals would ask Paquette-Horne about him, and where he was.

“People were willing to travel just to go see him,” she said. “It said a lot about who he was, and how people felt about him.”

Tom said, “everyone just wanted to talk to Anatole,” and that was something they all loved about him. He called him an awesome guy everyone is going to miss. McNab agreed.

“One of the sparks of the area is gone, but he left his mark, and that lives on,” McNab said.