It’s going to be big and it’s going to be dangerous when Brass-O-Mania!, “The World’s Most Dangerous Big Band,” performs in concert at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on June 8 as part of the Flag Day weekend festivities.

Sponsored by The Record, the Troy Flag Day Committee and Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, the free concert will start at 8 p.m.; the hall will open at 7 p.m. and all ticket holders must be seated by 7:45 p.m.

Brass-O-Mania!

While a military band is normally the headliner for the free parade-eve concert, no military bands were available this year because of the federal sequestration.

Thankfully, Brass-O-Mania!,” a 19-piece big band made up of professional musicians and music educators, stepped in to help us out. The band, which was formed in 1994, also includes two vocalists.

Band business manager Tom MacDonald promises concert-goers an enjoyable evening featuring an eclectic mix of tunes, covering 70 years of great American Swing, Blues and Pop tunes.

Tickets to the free concert are available from The Record. To obtain tickets, mail a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The Record, 501 Broadway, Troy, NY 12180 ATTN: Marine Concert. Please include the number of tickets requested. No more than four tickets may be requested.

Tickets may also be obtained in person at the newspaper’s downtown Troy office at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue.


My thanks to Record audience engagement editor Rebecca Eppelmann, Brass-O-Mania's!" Tom MacDonald,  John Elbaum of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and Ed Manny, president of the Troy Flag Day Committee, for putting together this terrific event.

We hope you'll be able to join us for this entertaining evening.


By the way, let the concert help get you in the mood for the 46th annual Troy Flag Day Parade, which will step off at 1 p.m. June 9 in South Troy and march north up Fourth Street into downtown. Thanks to the generosity of local individuals and businesses, the parade is a go for this year – and hopefully many more in the future!

Rebecca Eppelmann, The Record's audience engagement editor, wants to help all of us get in shape -- and she promises me that it doesn't have to hurt to get there.

This Thursday at 6 p.m., we are inviting both seasoned and amateur runners to join us in our Community Media Lab on the first floor of our downtown Troy building for a session on how to avoid injuries.

Dr. Tim Maggs, a specialist in Sports Biomechanics, will present a hands-on injury prevention seminar that will focus on how to prevent and care for all types of running injuries, figuring out “good” vs. “bad” pain, and the importance of stretching.

Maggs has been a Sports Chiropractor for 35 years, is a national lecturer on fitness and conditioning, worked in the New York Giants (professional football) strength department, was the founder and director of the Team Stick Kenyan Running Program, gives 25 seminars a year to doctors on the importance of structural biomechanics, and has completed 16 marathons.

In addition, he has developed the: Structural Management Program, Structural Fingerprint Exam, and the Maggs Muscle Management Program.

As The Running Doctor, Dr. Maggs has contributed to: New England Runner, Florida Running & Triathlon, Chiropractic Economics, Chiropractic Products, Pace Setter and American Chiropractor magazines; and a frequent contributor to many other running publications.

Maggs is heavily involved in the Training Challenge for the Freihofer’s Run for Women and frequents their Saturday training sessions for consultation with participants.

Space for this seminar is limited, please RSVP at http://bit.ly/Zk9PI8

Free parking for the session is available in The Record's lot on Broadway between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

 

Wow!

Thanks to all of you, The Record’s first Red Cross blood drive -- held in our first-floor Community Media Lab – was a great success.

Jim Shake, account manager, biomedical services for the American Red Cross, reports that the Red Cross collected 26 units from 30 donors, including seven first-timers. This was approximately 124 percent of the pre-established goals for the drive, Jim reports.

What's even more exciting is that this blood can now provide the gift of life to as many as 78 recipients.

The constant stream of people kept Community Engagement Editor Rebecca Eppelmann busy checking people in and moving them along to the very capable Red Cross staff.

Happy to see my friend Nora Dwyer taking part in the blood drive. No matter what the need is in this community, Nora is always there doing whatever she can to help. She’s one amazing lady!

In this case, the need was great. The Red Cross blood supply had reached emergency levels, with 50,000 fewer donations than expected in June. This shortfall left about half the readily available blood products on hand than was available at this time last year.

Record reporters Andrew Beam and Danielle Sanzone were happy to help out as blood donors as was our IT guru, Pete Blanchette.

It was my first time as a blood donor. I always wanted to do it, but I never got around to following through. Rebecca couldn’t have made it any easier for me by scheduling a blood drive one floor below my office.

The Red Cross staff was terrific: Friendly, professional and capable. I admit that I was a bit nervous and did have a mini panic attack as I was finishing up my donation; the staff quickly calmed me down, got me hydrated and later sent me on my way back to work on the second floor.

One final note: Let me congratulate Rebecca for doing a terrific job organizing this event. Whether it was hanging posters throughout downtown Troy, encouraging all of us to promote the blood drive through social media, writing reminder stories for the print edition, this was her project – and she did a great job helping others. We’re proud of you Rebecca!   

P.S. Stay turned for upcoming events in our Community Media Lab!

On Thursday, July 19, we're hoping you'll step up, roll up a sleeve and give blood or platelets when The Record hosts a blood drive from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Rebecca Eppelmann, who many of you may know as the editor of our former weeklies, Latham Life and River Life, has taken on a new assignment as community engagement editor for The Record and our sister newspaper to the north, The Saratogian.

While she has been involved with many of The Record's recent community efforts, Rebecca has taken the lead in organizing this effort to help the Red Cross, which reports its blood supply has reached emergency levels. Red Cross officials say they suspect this year's unseasonably early start to summer weather may be a contributing factor to the decrease in donations. They believe many regular donors got an early start on summer activities and aren’t taking time to give blood or platelets.

The Red Cross plays a critical role in our community, and I hope you'll consider stopping by our Community Media Lab Thursday here at 501 Broadway in downtown Troy. Free parking is available in our lot on Broadway between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

Take a look at some of the statistics provided by the Red Cross:

-- Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion.

-- All blood types are currently needed -- especially O positive, O negative, B negative and A negative in order to meet patient demand this summer.

-- Type O negative is the universal blood type and can be transfused to anyone who needs blood. It’s the blood type doctors turn to first in an emergency situation when there is no time to match a patient’s blood type.

-- Every day, the Red Cross must collect more than 17,000 pints of blood for patients at more than 3,000 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. Each pint of whole blood can help save more than one life.

To schedule an appointment, or for more information, call Rebecca Eppelmann at 270-1299 or 1-800-Red-Cross. The Record is located at 501 Broadway in Troy.

Thanks for thinking about making a donation and I hope to see you here on Thursday at The Record.

One of the most popular events The Record co-sponsors for the community each year is the military band concert.
This year, the free concert will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 11 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Ticket holders are asked to be in their seats by 7:45 p.m. The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Band of Cherry Point, N.C., will perform and will march the next day in the 44th annual Flag Day Parade.
Co-sponsors are the Troy Flag Day Parade Committee Inc. and Troy Detachment Marine Corps League. Use of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is courtesy of The Troy Savings Bank Charitable Foundation.
Tickets are still available, but they are going fast.
To get tickets (maximum of four) for this free performance, complete the coupon running in our print edition (or send us your name, address and the number of tickets you want) and mail it, along with a self-addressed envelope, to: The Record, Marine Band Tickets, 501 Broadway, Troy, N.Y. 12180.
Tickets may also be picked up in person at The Record, 501 Broadway, Troy, main entrance, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
It's an enjoyable way to spend a Saturday night in downtown Troy, and while you're downtown, don't forget to try out one of the city's downtown restaurants for a post-concert snack and beverage.
Kudos to Rebecca Eppelmann for organizing the concert along with our co-sponsors. Rebecca is editor of our weeklies, Latham Life and River Life, and she also runs our night news desk operation two nights a week. She's one busy woman!