For decades, Elsie Locke has been foot-tapping along with the Naperville Municipal Band. She comes every week with her friends Vi and Anita, who got her hooked forty years ago.
“She told me about this. Otherwise I’d have never known,” said Locke. “So I thought ‘I’m going to come and see what it’s like’, and the first time I came I thought, ‘I’m going to come back because this is so much fun!’”
Since the 1970’s she’s hardly missed a concert. Every Thursday in the summer, Locke and company come out to hear the band play music from several eras.
“They play all kinds of music and I just love all of it,” said Locke. “They play the marches and big band music, I love that. They play music from World War II music – that’s great.”
And since there are songs for all ages, the concerts have become a family affair as well. Locke attends concerts with her daughter and sometimes her grandchildren.
Once the groups find their spots on the lawn, Locke makes sure to swing by the gazebo where local charities sell cookies, cupcakes, and her favorite: strawberry rhubarb pie.
But what’s really kept her coming back for the past forty years?
“It’s the music. I just love sitting there listening to any type of music.”
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.