Tickets for Joliet band’s 39th Christmas concert are free, on one condition.

Donate a generous amount of nonperishable food and/or paper products and receive a free ticket to a Christmas concert.

The Joliet American Legion Band will host its 39th annual “Sounds of Christmas” concert at 2 p.m. Dec. 11 at The Rialto Square Theatre, 102 N. Chicago St. in Joliet.

The Dixie Bandits will provide pre-concert entertainment in the rotunda at 1 p.m.

“It’s a very fun afternoon of Christmas music by the American Legion Band,” Mike Fiske, musical director for the band, said. “You’ll also get to hear the Barton Grande Organ in the beautiful Rialto. You can’t get much better that that.”

The concert is under the direction of Fiske and assistant directors Rick Ellenberger (Army major, retired) Jillian Kohler and Jim Kreuz.

Featured vocalist is Paula Camp Shorp.

People can “purchase” tickets from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the American Legion Post 1080 at 2625 Ingalls Ave. in Joliet.

Or they can “purchase” them from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 5, or 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 7 and Dec. 9 at the Rialto. Monetary donations in lieu of nonperishable food and/or paper products will also be accepted.

All donations will go to Daybreak Center in Joliet, Fiske said. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door prior to concert.

“They can come to the Rialto and get their tickets and drop their food off,” Fiske said. “Representatives from the legion band will be inside the front door of the Rialto, passing out tickets and collecting food.”

The last three numbers of the first half of the concert will be a tribute to Tom Drake, director emeritus of the American Legion Band. Drake was 86 when he died, Oct. 23.

The first piece will be “Andante” by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky from his from Symphony. No. 6, also known as the Pathétique Symphony. This was Drake’s favorite piece and one he played at the close of his performances, Fiske said.

“He thought this was one of the most beautiful pieces ever written,” Drake said.

The second will be “We Are Together,” which Drake wrote, Fiske said.

The last will be “Stars and Stripes Forever,” a fitting way to end the tribute.

“Tom Drake was the American Legion Band,” Fiske said. “He started playing in the American Legion Band in 1950 and he was the director of the band for over 50 years.”

Drake retired as director at the end of 2016. The “Sounds of Christmas” was the last concert he directed, Fiske said.

Fiske said the band visited Drake shortly after it won American Legion’s 2022 National Concert Band Contest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 28.

[ Joliet American Legion Band wins national band contest for the 39th time ]

“It was a great opportunity for the people that were in the band, that knew and loved Tom, to have an opportunity to just spend some time and talk with him,” Fiske said. “Little did we know that just a short time later he’d pass away.”

Fiske said the “Sounds of Christmas” is the first public concert since winning that championship. So paying homage to Drake “felt like the right thing to do,” he said.

“He was just a great man, very giving,” Fiske said. “Tom was just a giving person. We just felt this was an opportunity to give something back in his memory on this program.”

For more information, visit rialtosquare.com/events and jolietlegionband.org.