GILROY
– A band that plays Dixieland and swing music all around the
world is coming to Gilroy again, and to see them, all you have to
do is bring a couple of cans of food.
GILROY – A band that plays Dixieland and swing music all around the world is coming to Gilroy again, and to see them, all you have to do is bring a couple of cans of food.
The 10th Avenue Band will play at the Strand Theater on Sunday. The donations go to Gilroy’s Saint Joseph Family Center.
The seven-piece band has been around for about 15 years. Leader Ed Zimbrick lives in San Martin, but the band members come from all over – Las Vegas, Sacramento, San Diego, Washington state and Canada.
Bob Storms, who plays the saxophone and clarinet for the band, said they like to play the Strand.
“It’s convenient,” he said. “They’ve got lots of space for the band to play, a large dance floor. It’s a nice environment.”
Storms, who is the band member from Washington, said getting everyone together to play can be expensive.
“We’re talking thousands of dollars for one canned-food gig,” he said.
And the band gets quite a bit of food for the family center.
“They have been just wonderful,” said Jacqui Merriman, the food distribution coordinator for Saint Joseph.
The band has already played in Gilroy this year, bringing in about 1,200 pounds of food for concerts in January, February and March.
Merriman said the center gives the food away fairly quickly.
“We bring it in; we sort it out; we put it on our shelves and give it away,” she said.
The family center feeds about 600 families twice a month.
The band will play at The Strand, at 7588 Monterey St. from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on May 23. For more information, call 1-888-474-7407. Admission is free, but the band is asking for a two-can donation.
