In 1977, movie-goers were all but blown out of their seats when the words ”A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way” slid up the screen to the accompaniment of a sweeping score unlike any heard in theaters in recent memory.

Some of that music from ”Star Wars” will be heard Sunday evening at the bandshell in Oleson Park as the Karl L. King Municipal Band continues its summer concert season at the iconic venue.

That concert will continue a homecoming of sorts for the band, which has been away from its traditional performance site for nearly two years. COVID-19, of course, was the reason for the absence.

The entire 2020 concert season was scrapped due to the pandemic.

The concerts resumed this year with the Memorial Day performance at Veterans Memorial Park by Badger Lake. That was followed by a couple of concerts in front of the Fort Dodge Public Library by the City Square. That site was chosen, at least in part, because of lingering uneasiness over the pandemic. There’s actually more space in front of the library in which band members can spread out, preserving some social distancing between them.

Concerts at the City Square proved successful, so the band took the next step and made its triumphant return to the Oleson Park bandshell on July 4. The rousing strains of ”The Stars and Stripes Forever” filled the air around the bandshell that night.

Sunday’s concert, which will begin at 7:30 p.m., promises a variety of great music, including the movie tunes and a tribute to four World War II chaplains who gave up their life jackets and drowned after the troop ship they were on was torpedoed by a German U-boat.

The band is outstanding and the concert is free. We encourage everyone to attend as music continues its return to the bandshell.