Warm evenings at the lake. Music filling the air. Sounds like summer.

Memorial Day weekend unofficially kicks off the season, and for its 80th year, the Lyric Band of Hanover will be providing the musical accompaniment. The Lyric Band is celebrating its 80th anniversary with another season of music.

Clarinet and saxophone player Barry Stauffer said the concert band is made up of musicians from all walks of life who enjoy getting together to entertain people at festivals, concerts and parades all around the area. For the 43rd year, the musicians will be performing at the band shell Sunday evenings at Codorus State Park. They perform there eight times this summer from now until Labor Day weekend, with several other area bands filling in on their off nights.

If that's not enough music for you, the Lyric Band has also scheduled two concerts through the Hanover Area Historical Society at the Warehime-Myers Mansion 6:30 p.m. June 6 and July 4.Plans are also in the works for a special, 80th anniversary celebration later on this fall.

Stauffer said the band plays mainly concert-style music, like show tunes and the sounds of the Big Band era, but they enjoy variety, too, and will throw some fun surprises in the mix.

The 80-year-old band formed in 1932 with 16 musicians, and has grown to about 80 members now, ranging in age from 15 to 90. Stauffer himself joined when he was in junior high school, and is in his 56th year with the band.

"I was pretty much a nut for music when I was a kid," he said.

He continued to enjoy playing music throughout his life. Stauffer was a member of the Air Force Band, stationed in both Washington, D.C., and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and continued to play on the side when he went into engineering as a profession.

"I just enjoy playing," Stauffer said. "It's a healthy thing to do. I like the challenge."

It's that challenge that attracts many musicians to the Lyric Band, he said. They play complex music that he said is fun and often difficult to learn.

The payoff for the extra challenge comes at showtime, though, when band members see how the audience res-

ponds to what they do, making it a special evening for everybody, he said.

Especially those summer nights at the lake.

"People of all ages come out Sunday evenings during the summer," he said. "Looking out over the lake, the sun sets as the evening goes on, and makes it a really unique place to be."

- Steve Marroni,
FlipSide staff

Lyric Band schedule

At Codorus State Park:

Concerts will be held Sundays starting this weekend, and run through Sept. 2 at the band shell. The shows start 7 p.m. through Aug. 5 and 6:30 p.m. starting Aug. 12.

You can also catch the Lyric Band June 3 and 10; July 1, 8 and 22; and Aug. 5, 19 and 26.

Other bands this summer include the Wallace Brothers Band May 27, Brodbecks Band June 17, Bravura Brass July 15, First Capitol Brass July 29, Codorus Brass Aug. 12 and the Gettysburg Big Band Sept. 2.

At the Warehime-Myers Manson: 6:30 p.m. June 6 and July 4.

DETAILS: For more information, visit www.lyricband.org.