76 TROMBONES AND MORE WILL STIR YOU.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Odds and ends from around the Valley:

If you enjoy marching bands and feel like going back in time to the days of ``The Music Man,'' grab the kids and grandkids and stop by Notre Dame High School this weekend.

For a couple of hours Saturday morning, the streets around the school will be closed to traffic so 14 high school marching bands from throughout Southern California can strut their stuff in the fifth annual Sherman Oaks Band Review.

``This isn't pep-rally or football-game band music. It's good, old- fashioned marching bands with flags and plenty of visuals playing selected marches chosen by professional judges,'' said band leader John Combes, who has taught at Notre Dame High for 36 years.

``Each band has 450 feet to show its stuff,'' he added.

Yeah, that's all - 450 feet marching by a reviewing stand. The kids will actually march one mile warming up and getting in step before they are judged.

``We're hoping to have a lot of families lining the streets supporting these kids because they work hard all year trying to make their marching band the best,'' said Penny Raymer, event organizer.

So, pull up a curb at 10 a.m. Saturday on Woodman Avenue, just north of Riverside Drive, and enjoy some good, old-fashioned marching band music.

Events like this wouldn't be possible without the great job being done by local high school music teachers.

It's no secret that, with all the budget cuts facing Los Angeles Unified and other school districts, many music programs are on the endangered list.

That's why it's so important for the community to back events like tonight's fundraising dance at the Canoga Park High School gym.

It's the idea of parent Larry Swerdlove who wanted to help the school's struggling music department because it helped turn his son around.

``Before coming to Canoga Park High last year, my son was completely uninvolved in school, and his grades were, frankly, pathetic,'' Swerdlove said. ``But since he joined the band, his enthusiasm about school and his grades began to rise.

``I give the credit for that to the music department and its director, Richard Kravchak.''

Swerdlove's church - Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Canoga Park - is hosting the dance from 7 to 10 p.m. at the school, 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd.

Four bands will be performing, including a band of teacher-musicians and a women's rhythm-and-blues band. There will also be door prizes and refreshments.

Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and senior citizens. All proceeds go to the school's music department.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chatsworth/Woodland Hills Post 11508, will host its Loyalty Day ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Chatsworth Train Station, 10040 Old Depot Plaza Road.

The hourlong event will be held in front of the Chatsworth Veterans Memorial. Stop by and say hi to some great guys remembering a day most of the country has forgotten.

If you're out and around Mission Hills at noon Sunday, stop by for the dedication of the Mission Community Police Station, the Los Angeles Police Department's first new station to open since 1978.

The station at 111210 Sepulveda Blvd. will have 350 sworn and civilian employees serving the north end of the Valley, including Granada Hills, North Hills and Panorama City.

And finally, congrats to Canoga Park for being chosen as a finalist for the All-American City Award.

Actually, you don't even have to be a city to win. Canoga Park isn't. It's a community neighborhood within the city of Los Angeles, which didn't enter.

Patterson says each of 48 communities that did enter had to submit information about three successful projects its residents and businesses undertook to solve local problems.

``In June, the National Civic League in Atlanta, Georgia, will name 10 cities All-American, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we're one of them,'' said Mary Patterson, executive director of the Canoga Park Improvement Association.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com