[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 77 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2379-S2380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EL DORADO BAND

  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and recognize the 
100th anniversary of the El Dorado Band.
  The purpose of the El Dorado Municipal Band is to provide musical 
entertainment in the summer for the city of El Dorado and to provide 
the opportunity for musicians from high school age and above to 
perform. The band began as the El Dorado Boys Band in the early 1920s, 
and is one of the oldest municipal bands in Kansas. The band's first 
public home was a traditional round band shell at Gordy Park in the

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heart of El Dorado. Its current home is a permanent band shell at 
Forest Park, located at Ninth and Taylor. This outdoor brick and 
concrete performance space was constructed in 1939 through the Works 
Progress Administration, WPA.
  The El Dorado Municipal Band celebrates 100 years of continuous 
performances with the 2022 summer concert season. Despite wars, natural 
disasters, pandemics, and other obstacles, the band continues to bring 
the young and old together, both on stage and in the audience. The band 
partners with veterans' organizations to celebrate Flag Day. It also 
holds old-fashioned ice cream socials and bake sales that help fund 
music scholarships to deserving youth at Butler Community College. The 
2022 performance season will kick off with a director's concert, 
bringing back all of the surviving directors that have stood before the 
Municipal Band. It will also feature the world public premiere of ``El 
Dorado Fanfare,'' a music composition by Ed Huckeby commissioned to 
celebrate 100 years of music. In addition to local performances each 
Thursday, the Municipal Band has been invited to perform for the Kansas 
Bandmaster's Association as a featured ensemble.
  I am honored to be from El Dorado and associated with this great 
band. I remember hearing the band play and have always enjoyed the time 
shared with my family listening to their music. I ask my colleagues to 
join me in recognizing this wonderful municipal band and congratulate 
them in celebrating 100 years of music.

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