STRIKE UP THE BAND!

There is something stirring about listening to a band playing in a park. Not just any band, but one with trumpets and trombones and clarinets and saxophones and tubas and drums and cymbals and flutes.

Another season is here for the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band and the Jackson Municipal Band. In a changing world where some of the best memories are too quickly disappearing from the cultural landscape, it is comforting to know that these two bands are still going strong.

Hundreds of appreciative listeners will bring lawn chairs and blankets to hear the Cape Girardeau band at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays at the band shell in Capaha Park. Likewise, folks will settle in for an evening of familiar tunes at 8 p.m. on Thursdays at the Jackson City Park.

Summer. Band concerts. Lemonade.

Can anyone imagine a more pleasant way to pass the time without the aid of air conditioning or television?