Local VFW band holding concert to support Ukraine
Pennsylvania State VFW Post 8543 Band is holding a concert on Father’s Day at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown to raise money to support Ukraine.
“In Ukraine, you have fathers and grandfathers that are fighting for their existence,” said Rich Miller, director of the Uniontown-based band. “We’re honoring them by doing this on Father’s Day.”
The concert, held from 3 to 5 p.m. on June 19, is free, but Miller said they’ll be accepting monetary donations for the Brother’s Brother Foundation in Pittsburgh, which is sending aid to Ukraine.
It’s the first time the band has held a spring concert, though they’ve held a free Christmas concert since 2012. Admission for that show is also free, with audience members asked to bring a Toys for Tots donation or food for the Fayette County Food Bank.
When Miller broached the idea of holding a spring show to support Ukraine, he said the band “loved the idea” and members are hopeful for a packed house.
“The State Theatre has 1,400 seats,” he said. “We’d love to fill them all.”
The Support for Ukraine Concert will see the band, which is made up of 55 instrumentalists and four vocalists, play a little bit of everything in styles of music, starting with the national anthems of both America and Ukraine.
Miller said other styles of music will include marches, pop songs, ballads, a little rock, country and maybe even a polka.
For the two-hour show, Miller said the first hour will feature the concert band, then a brief 15-minute intermission will take place, followed by 18 selected band members playing in the Swing Band before being joined by the remainder of the band to play until the end of the show.
“We need people to come and enjoy themselves and help honor the fighters over in Ukraine,” Miller said.