Submitted photos The W.D. Packard Concert Band will play its annual Fourth of July Spectacular on the grounds of Packard Music Hall on Saturday.

The W.D. Packard Concert Band will play its annual Fourth of July Spectacular, and attendees will be able to leave with a souvenir.

Thomas A. Groth, executive director of the band, commissioned through the trust he created in memory of his wife, Brenda, a print celebrating local history. It was created by artist Rick Muccio, whose editorial cartoons regularly appear in the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.

“I wanted to have something to give out to the people (for America250),” Groth said. “It was Rick’s idea to do the history of Warren, and I liked it, so that’s what he did. We talked over the different things that would be a part of it.”

At the top of the piece, it says, “While celebrating America at 250 a historic look back at Warren,” and some of the notable figures depicted from the city’s history include suffragist Harriet Taylor Upton, attorney Clarence Darrow, William Henry Dana (founder of the Dana Music Institute) and jazz trumpet player Sean Jones.

In addition to commissioning the art, the Thomas A. and Brenda S. Groth Family Trust paid to print 250 copies of the 11-inch-by-17-inch print, which will be available for free to attendees at the concert while supplies last.

Groth, who will serve as moderator for the concert, said the 4th of July performance is one of his favorite concerts to program.

“Because it’s the 250th anniversary, I wanted to include as much American music and the history of music as possible,” he said.

The program, conducted by Galen S. Karriker, will open with a new work, “American Spirit,” by Anthony O’Toole, who is a composer based in California. O’Toole wrote a piece in memory of former Packard Band Conductor Stephen L. Gage that the band premiered in 2023.

“We’ve developed a relationship with him,” Groth said. “We’ve kept in touch, and I saw where he was writing this, and he sent me a copy of it. I said, “Boy, that’d be great for the 4th of July leading into the Star Spangled Banner,’ and he agreed.”

Guest vocalists performing with the band will be Helen Welch — who will sing “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “The House I Live In” and “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” — and Doug Thomas.

“Doug Thomas is becoming a favorite, just like Helen,” Groth said. “He’s singing Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA,’ which the people love, and then he’s going to lead the audience in singing ‘God Bless America,’ and then ‘America the Beautiful,’ which is a Ray Charles-style arrangement, so he’ll do really good on that.”

Patriotic fare will include George M. Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” Frank Panella’s “The American Colors” march, a medley of songs from the Revolutionary War era, Ryan Nowlin’s “Let Freedom Ring,” John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” march and a musical salute to the armed forces.

Band members James Garber, piano, and Dan Carioti, tenor saxophone, will be featured on Count Basie’s “One O’Clock Jump.” Groth said he wanted to include jazz on the program as an art form that originated in this country.

Following the band will be a fireworks display by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale, and there will be food trucks, face painting and other activities on the Packard Music Hall grounds before the music starts at 8 p.m. Saturday.

If you go …

WHAT: Fourth of July Spectacular: W.D. Packard Concert Band with Galen S. Karriker, conductor, and Helen Welch and Doug Thomas, vocalists, followed by fireworks

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: South lawn bandshell at Packard Music Hall, 1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren

HOW MUCH: Admission is free, and funding is provided by the W.D. Packard trust.