Community bands' outdoor programs subject of next Newsmakers

(From KGCS)

Community concert bands are known for patriotic fanfare at Memorial Day and July 4th festivities but members say they offer more than just marches.

Three community bands will perform a wide variety of music during a festival called CBOP ’24. That stands for Community Bands Outdoor Picnic 2024 and the event is the focus of the coming week’s Newsmakers program.

Event coordinator, Jud Fisher and Marian Mobley with the Heartland Concert Band discuss why the event was started and give details of Thursday night concerts in Schifferdecker Park leading up to the big event. They say food trucks and an ‘instrument petting zoo’ will make the CBOP festival fun for kids who are often curious about how sounds are created. David Wiggins with the Coffeyville Municipal Band shares some of their playlist for the event while Dee Brake talks about the Republic Community Band. 

Kicking off the band performances on June 22nd will be the U.S. Army 399th Band at 12:30 p.m. Each main stage band will play about sixty minutes while the bluegrass band, Spillwater Drive, will perform during community band breaks.

Newsmakers is airing nightly at 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. the week of June 2 on KGCS-TV and will air at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, June 8 on KOAM-TV. It is also posted on the station’s YouTube channel: KGCS - Missouri Southern State University.

KGCS programming can be seen on channel 21 and is also available on regional cable television systems such as Sparklight, Mediacom and Optimum Internet in Carthage. The station operates as a service of the Department of Communications at Missouri Southern State University.