Utah State University singers and dancers portrayed paper dolls dancing out of their "book" during the 1998 Glenn Miller Festival. Photo: Bill West, Logan Studio

Glenn Miller Festival

This annual celebration of the noted composer and band conductor is held in his birthplace, Clarinda, Iowa. Beginning as a modest observance in 1976, the festival is now international in scope, with groups from Japan, Austria, and the Netherlands slated to perform in June 2000. The Airmen of Note and the Strolling Strings of the US Air Force Band are regularly featured, and bands from around the country seeking to recreate the "Glenn Miller sound" perform to enthusiastic audiences. A significant aspect of the festival is the Glenn Miller Scholarship Competition. The festival is documented in historical text, photographs, publications, a videotape of the 1998 festival, and issues of Miller Notes, the newsletter of the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society.

Originally submitted by: Leonard L. Boswell, Representative (3rd District).

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