Cherish Belly Dance Presents: An Afternoon of Belly Dance & Fundraiser An Afternoon of Belly Dance featuring dancers from the Capital District coming together to help raise money for the Ft. Crailo American Legion Yankee Doodle Band. Doors Open at 12:30pm Show starts at 1:00pm Hors d'oeuvres & Cash Bar Available 50/50 Raffle Tickets are $20 (+ $1 service fee) Please PRINT Ticket for entry into the event. You can purchase tickets through paypal at: [hidden] -OR- Contact Cherish Holmes through this event page or call [hidden] The Yankee Doodle Band Ft. Cralo Post 471 Rensselaer, NY 12144 1936-current This year marks the marching band’s 80th anniversary! In 1928, the Ft. Cralo Post organized a senior drum & bugle corps consisting of its own members. They went on to compete in local and national competitions and in 1933 they won the State Championship in Brooklyn, NY. In 1936, several members wanted to expand and create a full marching band to include all brass and woodwind instruments. By 1941, the band consisted of 75 musicians. In 1937, the band was named the Yankee Doodle Band since the city of Rensselaer is where a British doctor (allegedly) wrote the famous Revolutionary War tune, “Yankee Doodle”. To this day, the band practices in the original American Legion Post on Partition St. in Rensselaer. The Yankee Doodle Band is considered the oldest, continuous American Legion Band in the Country. We hold this ranking because we were able to keep the band going through war time (with a lot fewer members) when many bands were not so lucky. We have 2 musicians still marching with us well into their 80’s. We’ve had dozens of musicians with over 40 years of service to the band. We’ve even had 3 & 4 generations of families playing in the band. The band is very well known for its military style uniform (the color has stayed true to the original uniform, while the style has changed slightly with the times). The one thing that sets us apart from all other marching bands is our very large bass drum which requires a pull cart and its very own “drum puller”. The esteemed drum puller job is how a lot of our young family members get their start in the band. The band has had many highlights along the way. The Yankee Doodle Band escorted Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller into the Inauguration Ball at the Albany Washington Avenue Armory. We’ve performed at the wedding of Gov. Hugh Cary and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands’s visit to Albany. We’ve played holiday concerts in the Troy Music Hall and many other events for our Troops and Veterans. This belly dance show/fundraiser will help raise money for this wonderful non-profit organization and hopefully bring in a new generation of musicians to keep the band going for another 80 years. More Info below.