BY RUTH RICE
RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM
Memorial Day weekend is a time for picnics, and at Johnstown’s Roxbury Bandshell, there will be a picnic in the park.
The first of a series of outdoor concerts will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday at the bandshell on Franklin Street, complete with picnic food.
Members of the Roxbury Bandshell Preservation Alliance will sell beverages and snacks, and members of Ferndale Volunteer Fire Company will grill hamburgers and hot dogs.
“The fire company will bring their cooker and set up around 11:30,” said Deb McDaniels, an alliance member.
To commemorate Memorial Day, the 54th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and Civilians, a Civil War re-enactment group, will present hands-on living-history demonstrations from 11 a.m. through 6:30 p.m.
“They will set up camp and show their weapons,” McDaniels said. “They will be in uniform and raise our flags.”
The group will set up tents in a grassy area to the side of the bandshell stage.
This third season of concerts is dedicated to Carmel Coco, a musician well-known in the area who played at the bandshell in its heyday.
“He played in a band on stage at the bandshell in the ’30s and ’40s,” McDaniels said.
“He is 90, and he has attended all our concerts he could. He has been a spectator for three years.”
“His daughter brings him. He is thankful to us for doing it. We thought it would be wonderful to dedicate this season to him. He gives us such encouraging words.”
Coco also played bassoon for Johnstown Symphony Orchestra for 61 years, retiring in the late 1990s.
McDaniels said Coco still works at Yankee Shoe Repair Factory with his brother, Samuel.
The first concert of the season will begin with patriotic selections from the Aubrey Singers at 1.
The repertoire of the Aubrey Singers, who are directed by Charlotte Aubrey with piano accompaniment by Luana Hiteshew, features popular, sacred and classical vocal music in addition to selections from operas and Broadway musicals.
They perform at conventions, dinner meetings, weddings, funerals and concerts.
Musical numbers in Sunday’s program will include “Simple Gifts,” “Let Freedom Ring,” “Armed Forces Salute,” “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “You Raise Me Up.”
A keynote address will be given by retired Marine 1st Sgt. George Blackham.
Bill McClelland, who performs acoustically at various Johnstown venues, will bring his own brand of acoustic rock to the stage at 2.
He grew up in the Roxbury area and is a former member of the band Oxford Shock.
The Desperadoes, who perform classic rock from the ’70s with drums, bass and guitar, will perform at 3.
Itch, a Johnstown-based regional rock band playing popular rock ranging from the 1960s to today’s hits, will close out the concert at 5.
Members are Greg Cveykus on vocals and harmonica, James Forish on guitar, Doug Lohr on drums and Kyle Reasbeck on bass.
Audience members should be prepared to provide their own seating with lawn chairs or blankets.
Proceeds from food sales and any donations for the free concert will go toward the bandshell’s restoration fund.
On stage
What: Sunday Summer Concert Series.
When: 1 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Roxbury Bandshell, Franklin Street, Johnstown.
Admission: Free.
