The Lt. Dan Band currently has the following dates scheduled:

• Saturday, March 10: 4th Annual Steppenwolf Celebrity Golf Classic (Indian Wells, CA)
• Friday & Saturday, March 30-31: Fallsview Casino Resort (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
• Saturday, April 28: House of Blues (Cleveland, OH)
• Thursday, May 3: Joe’s Bar (Chicago, IL) - Benefit for United States Vietnam Arts Program
• Saturday, May 5: Steppenwolf Theatre Gala (Chicago, IL)
• Saturday, July 21: Cantigny Park (Wheaton, IL) - details TBA

They are also planning a European USO tour for this summer.

Get out and see the LDB — you won’t be disappointed!

Gary is scheduled to help the USO celebrate its one millionth Operation USO Care Package Saturday, November 11th at the USO Warehouse in Fort Belvior, Virginia. To celebrate, service members and volunteers will assemble some 10,000 care packages at a Care Package Stuffing Party from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Among them will be the one millionth care package.

Military leadership, USO World Headquarters and USO of Metropolitan Washington leadership, USO board members and program sponsors will also be in attendance.

Care packages are distributed to service members deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan and other overseas locations.

Please visit the USO website to see photos of USO events Gary has attended over the past year (and learn more about the USO) at: USO Gallery.

• Reviews of the season premiere of CSI:NY — at Blogcritics (hee: “I’m impressed with one thing. Gary Sinise can kiss!” and TV Squad.
• There really aren’t any yet, but reviews for Open Season will start appearing here (Rotten Tomatoes) and here (Metacritic) over the next few days.
• Gary will be in Washington, DC this week for the USO’s annual fundraising gala.
• Next new episode of CSI:NY — tomorrow night, entitled “Not What it Looks Like.” There’s a preview at the CBS web site.

A nice write-up by the AP here.

Some fantastic pictures by Annie, who was fortunate enough to attend:

(If you belong to the gsinise list, you can view the rest of Annie’s photos here.)

Thanks, Annie!

Gary and the Lt. Dan Band will be performing a concert for soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado on August 12.

As always, we’d love pictures and/or reports from anyone who attends — sinisefans at sinisefans.org.

Sorry, all. I was at ComicCon with an author friend last weekend (her books totally rock, btw, you should read them!) and I got way behind on everything. (If you are interested, my report, such as it is, is in my personal journal.)

Anyway! Back now. Tired, but back. So here’s a quick round-up of news items:

• Speaking of ComicCon, here’s a report on Open Season from the Sony presentation at the con.
• I can’t believe that people are still asking this question (scroll to the bottom), which I have been answering (and answering… and answering) since 1996.
• There are lots of pictures from the July 22 Rockin’ for the Troops concert at the Operation Support Our Troops Illinois web site.
• A brief item about Gary’s USO activities during the CSI:NY hiatus.
• A roundup on Riverfest (in Ottawa, IL) where the LDB will be performing on August 5… and a featured article on Gary, related to Riverfest.

And I think… we’re pretty much caught up. I hope you are all staying cool, wherever you are!

Courtesy of Rob Kyser at Whiteman AFB, we have some great photos of the June 7 LDB show at Whiteman AFB. Click for larger versions, and enjoy!

Vocalist Mari Ann Jayme, with Kimo Williams and Kirk Garrison in the background.

Thanks again to Rob Kyser for the awesome photos!

This morning we have a couple of more articles for you on the Whiteman AFB show by Gary and the Lt. Dan Band — from the AP via the Kansas City Star and the Sedalia Democrat.

Courtesy of the local paper, a nice article about Gary and the LDB at Whiteman Air Force Base. Photos, too.

Courtesy of Carol K., who reports: “These pictures were taken at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, on Monday 5 June 2006. Gary and the Lt. Dan Band performed with the USO for the troops stationed here. It was awesome! HE IS AWESOME!!”