With the approach of Memorial Day this spring, my daughter told her young children about the parade that always marks the beginning of summer.  She bought some small American flags for them to wave and a bottle of bubbles to blow as bands marched by. And then she got online to find the parade route in the town where her family had recently bought their first home. After a fruitless search and then a phone call, the truth was undeniable.

There was no Memorial Day Parade–not in that town or in any town for miles around.

And then she understood the strange silence emanating from the elementary school nearby. There were no school children marching down the street blowing their horns, because there was no parade to practice for. How would her children ever decide what instruments to play if they could not sit on the front lawn and watch the mini-parade that was always a part of May afternoons in our Naperville neighborhood?

That was when we realized that the Naperville Municipal Band is not just about band concerts. Our band is the catalyst for much of what we love best about Naperville. It creates parades and parks; picnics and practices; competitions and community. If we were forced to re-live our lives in Naperville without its band, what horrors might we encounter? No Memorial Day Parade, no weekly concert, no band shell, no Central Park. Perhaps a tall condo where we now sit in the grass? Maybe schools without their prize-winning music programs? Sidewalks without people converging towards the center of town? And how many homes without their private ensembles?

The Naperville Municipal Band means that we don’t have to leave Naperville to show the best that the Midwest has to offer to guests from out of the area. The spirit of Central Park, where we nod and greet friends and strangers alike, spreads throughout our city. We have the finest of friendship, festivities, and culture right here.

For my family, the band continues to bless four generations. My mother comes to visit us in the middle of each summer so that she can attend the Fourth of July concert and see the veterans standing and remember when my father was among them. The band inspires family members to dust off their neglected instruments in case maybe –just maybe — the band needs them someday. It means that my son’s family has returned to live in the neighborhood where he grew up, and my grandchildren now walk to concerts with me and talk about what instruments they will play. And it means that next year, I think my daughter will bring her family to visit — probably Memorial Day weekend.

Ellen Sorenson (Naperville resident since 1975)