What's Happening in Lafayette, CA…

Five area Rotary clubs are joining forces to host a free concert, dubbed ‘Operation Swingtime’, to honor all of our veterans and active duty military personnel.

This will be the second year that the event has been held – in its first year, it attracted around 800 people. The Rotary clubs participating this year are Lafayette, Sunrise, Lamorinda, Orinda, Moraga, and Rossmoor.

Beginning at 5pm and continuing until twilight, the evening’s program will headline with The Big Band of Rossmoor and feature special guests, Mic Gillette, Tower of Power trumpeter and The Swingin’ Blue Stars.

The Big Band of Rossmoor, under the direction of Mo Levich, has an eclectic mixture of talented musicians. Included in the band are Northgate high school students Natalie Jenkins and Cameron Wanser.

Jenkins, a tenor saxophonist, played at last year’s concert. For 15-year-old Wanser, who transferred to Northgate to take advantage of its strong music program, this will be his first ‘Operation Swing’.

At the other end of the spectrum is band member Bob Sutherland, a 91-year-old trumpet player who from 1932 to 1945 served his country in the Army Air Corp.

On July 18, as the strains of composers Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller emanate from the Lafayette Reservoir stage, the Mobile Vet Center will be on hand dispensing information, fresh from the brochure printers, regarding benefits available to veterans and their families.