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Ringgold Band; Oley Community Fair

The historic Ringgold Band of Reading, Pennsylvania, is one of America’s oldest with a history dating to l852.  On March 26, l932, John Philip Sousa, “The March King,” was in Reading and rehearsing with the band for an upcoming concert.  Later that day, in the evening, he died of a heart attack in the Abraham Lincoln Hotel.  The last march he conducted was  his own “Stars and Stripes Forever.”  Traditionally, the Ringgold Band ends its concerts with this rousing, signature march.  In l980, James S. Seidel became the band’s conductor.

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