CSU–Pueblo July 4th Extravaganza features food, music, fireworks 
  
PUEBLO – The July 4th Extravaganza at Colorado State University – Pueblo will celebrate our country’s independence as well as the retirement of United States Air Force Academy Band Commander and Conductor Lieutenant Colonel Philip Chevallard. The July 4th Extravaganza is the final event of Colorado Music Fest XI, a five-week series of music camps and concerts. 
 
Independence Day festivities begin at 7 p.m. with a welcome by mistress of ceremonies Lupe Brown of KNKN/KRMX Radio and CSU-Pueblo President Ron Applbaum. A Color Guard presentation and Pledge of Allegiance led by State Representative Dorothy Butcher will precede a 7:30 p.m. concert by the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. An hour-long fireworks display will begin at approximately 9:15 p.m. The following food vendors will be on hand to keep the crowd well fed: Tamale Heaven, Mulligans (hamburgers), Do Drop Inn, Tasty Treats, Passkey, Hillside Dairy, Kiwanis (hot dogs), Pueblo Chile Company, and Sodexho. 
 
The grounds will be sprayed for mosquitoes on Friday, but attendees are encouraged to bring bug spray in addition to their blankets and lawn chairs. Admission to the concert is free, but a minimal on-campus parking fee will be returned to the community in the form of donations by the Sertoma Club. 
 
Major sponsors of the July 4th event include the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, , the Pueblo Chieftain, Colorado Council on the Arts, Pueblo County, KRMX/KNKN Radio, and the Sertoma Club.
 
The July 4th concert will be Chevallard’s final performance as Commander of the U.S Air Force Academy Band after more than two decades of service. His biography follows: 

Lieutenant Colonel Philip C. Chevallard

Colonel Chevallard was commissioned in 1983 and assigned to The United States Air Force Band, Washington D.C., as Associate Conductor. His conducting venues included the White House, D.A.R. Constitution Hall and The Society of Cincinnati’s Anderson House Museum. Additionally, he functioned as Officer-in-Charge, The United States Air Force Ceremonial Brass, Air Force Chamber Players, and Director of Audio Productions. He initiated the “Music Under the Stars” chamber series at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and produced the initial Air Force Band radio programs broadcast on National Public Radio’s series “The Greatest Bands in the Land.” In 1988 he was appointed Commander of the Air Mobility Command Band of the Golden West, Travis Air Force Base, California, where he initiated numerous community relations programs, including “Conductor’s Day,” an annual educational event featuring world-renowned conductors. In 1995, he became the Supervising Commander of the 73-member USAF Band of the Pacific, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and its detachments in Yokota, Japan, and Honolulu, Hawaii. In direct support of multi-service and
multinational military activities in rural Alaska, he created “Operation Outreach,” an ongoing community relations/educational program featuring Air Force musicians. Additionally, he produced the unit’s first compact disc, a gesture of Air Force good will that was sent to over 500 rural communities. To date, he has conceived and produced more than sixty digital recordings, including the first compact disc recorded by any American military musical unit. Active in the community, he created Alaska’s first Boy Scout band and served on the conservatory faculty of Alaska’s venerable Anchorage Festival of Music. He was appointed Commander and Conductor of The United States Air Force Academy Band on October 5, 1998.
 
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Chevallard received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University and the Master of Arts and Ph D. Degrees from The University of Iowa. Prior to his Air Force career, Colonel Chevallard held the positions of Conductor, Iowa Wesleyan College Wind Ensemble; Assistant Director of Bands, Michigan State University; and Director of Bands, San Jose (California) State University. Concurrently, he served as a noncommissioned officer in the 338th Army Reserve Band and the 34th Army (Iowa) National Guard Band.
 
Colonel Chevallard and his wife, the former Barbara Burgoon, live in Colorado Springs. Their two sons, Daniel and David, are both Eagle Scouts. A published author and composer, Colonel Chevallard has received numerous awards for his support of Education and the Arts, including a 1993 honor for “Conspicuous Creativity” from the Disney Corporation. Formerly the Military-Professional Representative and Second Vice President of the 5000-member National Band Association, he was the first Air Force officer elected to its Executive Board. In 1993, he was invited to join the 270-member American Bandmasters Association, the first Air Force “regional band” officer ever elected. His military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with two Bronze Star Devices and the Army Marksman (Rifle) Badge.