Strike up the band!

Tonight, the Montrose Community Band will have its annual free patriotic concert on the lawn of the Montrose Pavilion. Time: 7 p.m.

Maestro Toby King will lead the MCB through Sousa marches, Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ and other favorites.

Herb Probasco says the band now has a “flotilla” of flutes, eight of them including two piccolos. Info: call Herb, 252-0918; 252-1330. Or, www.montroseband.com

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The Notebook just loves stories like this……..

In Bristol, England, there’s the Bristol Zoo. The zoo’s parking lot features parking spaces for 150 cars and eight coaches. The entryway has been manned for 23 years, six days a week, by the same charming, uniformed and polite car attendant with ticket machine.

One day, he didn’t show. The zoo called the city council and complained how the parking lot, and its attendant, was the city’s responsibility. And where was he?

City management replied: What attendant?

The man had been taking in about $600 a day for those 23 years. He’s missing from his home and remains “at large,” according to the AP.

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Support live music in Montrose……

• Tonight, it’s the Main Street Bluz Band at Smuggler’s in “south” Montrose, from 7 to 9 p.m.

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On July 4, the Dept. of Interior, with Secretary Ken Salazar of Colorado attending, will reopen the Statue of Liberty. Only 240 people per day will be allowed to walk up and down the 354 stairs to Lady Liberty’s crown that has 25 windows. (The seven spikes in her crown represent the seven oceans and the seven continents. The statue weighs 450,000 pounds and wears a size 879 sandal – 25 feet long.) The icon of American freedom was closed after the 9/11 attacks and was later renovated.

If you’re heading to New York this summer, and want reservations to do the tour: 877-523-9849; or, www.statuecruises.com.

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Controlled burn alert!

Put another candle on the birthday cake for Scott Beyer of Scott’s Printing.

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Scott is one of the folks who’s donating much to facilitate the 4th of July celebration coming Saturday. (The Daily Press, too, is a sponsor and we’ll have a special insert inside Wednesday’s editions.)

Other pertinent info:

• Parade. 10 a.m. Saturday, July 4. Downtown. Contact: Terri Leben, Chamber, 249-5000.

• Summerfest. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. River Landing Shopping Center. Contact: Polly Hohlenkamp, 209-0112.

• Prize drop from helicopter: 3 p.m. River Landing Shopping Center. Contact: Ms. Hohlenkamp, 209-0112.

• Fireworks. 9 p.m. or so. Riverbottom Park, Cerise Park or Sunset Mesa are the recommended spots for viewing. The Montrose Rotary Club sponsors the fireworks display. Co-chairpersons: Ana Mostaccero, 252-4517; Joe Bagnara, 275-3000.

Incidentally, there’s also a cool map and calendar of events on our Web site regarding this day’s events: www.montrosepress.com. Click onto the page one link, in the red bar, right under the newspaper’s flag for all the skinny.

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The subject is curveballs. Baseball fans will argue who had the best: Deuce, Yakker, Hook, or Uncle Charlie. (Nicknames for the curve.) Experts say Bert Blyleven and Nolan Ryan had the best combination of speed and rotation; batters who faced Sandy Koufax in his heyday said his curve “hissed” as it went by.

Ever since someone snapped off the first curve — Candy Cummings, or Fred Goldsmith — there’s been debate whether it was physical or an illusion.

Dizzy Dean had a good curveball and a good line for those who doubted the ball moved at all. Said Diz: “Stand behind a tree 60 feet away and I’ll whomp you with an optical illusion.”