Arts & Entertainment
Air National Guard Band Performs at McCall
Sponsored by the Winchester Savings Bank, the Air National Guard Band of the Northeast played a free holiday concert in the McCall Auditorium.
"Playing a show like this is great. It's great to get the public involved and tell our story, it's real music for real people."
These are the words of Master Sergeant Charles Edgerly, leader of the Air National Guard Band of the Northeast, commenting on his duty as part of an on-going effort to raise awareness for the current conflicts overseas.
Master Sergeant Edgerly explained that the bands primary goal is to help bring attention to those soldiers that are abroad.
"One of the missions that we have is to support the deployed airmen and deployed solider," Edgerly said. "We have members deployed in various locations throughout the world. Just this past summer we deployed nine of our members to southwest Asia [Afghanistan] that played for large groups, small groups and even played in places that normally wouldn't get live entertainment like hot zones.
"I think the best mission they had when they were over there was when they broke down into three or four member acoustic sets and went and played for some of the wounded."
According to Amy Timmerman, the Director of Marketing over at , this is the fourth time the band has performed in Winchester. They've been coming every other year.
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the duo explained how and why the Air Force Band came to "This is the fourth time we've done it, we do it every other year," mentioned Timmerman.
"We wanted to do something for the Winchester community to thank them for their service over the years. We decided that a free concert, especially at Christmas would be the perfect gift," said Barbara RogersExecutive Secretary at the Winchester Savings Bank. "It's just our way of giving back to the public and the school has been great in hosting it."
"We decided to find a military band because of their quality," said Rogers.
The show itself was a myriad of classic holiday tunes such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas complete with narration.
For more information on the Air National Guard Band of the Northeast and their mission check out their site.
