When you are a teenager, just out of high school, anything seems possible.  

Like hitchhiking from Great Falls, Mt., to Hollywood, to catch a few rays of California sunshine, to hit a beach or two that did not involve the Missouri river.  

Maybe to meet some girls our age.  

Maybe to take them dancing at the Holllywood Palladium.

Three of us did just that.  We had to split up to catch rides, but after three or four days of hitchhiking we were deposited and united near Hollywood and Vine.  

We hit a Santa Monica Beach, we checked out the Hollywood Bowl and Grauman's Chinese Theater.  

With the help of a resident aunt, we dated three of her teenaged babysitters and -- believe it or not -- found outselves one night dancing our version of the Montana Shuffle in the Palladium to the music of a genuine "big band."

When you are quite a bit older than a teenager, it is still possible to turn back the clock to the era of Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.  

You could identify a lot of people with the same unscratched itch recently at the Northgate bus station.  

Some had grey hair, some had white hair, some had no hair.  Strangers all, we boarded the same bus and exited a few minutes later and several years earlier at Benaroya Hall.  

A reincarnation of the Glen Miller Orchestra drew capacity crowds for several recent shows in Seattle. For some of us, it whetted an appetite for big band music that we knew would be appeased again this weekend.  

Because we live in Edmonds and annually spend Saturday of the Memorial Day Weekend hearing some of the most talented teenage musicians in America at venues like Edmonds Center for the Arts, the Edmonds Theater and the Masonic Center.  

Edmonds-Woodway High School will be one of the most anticipated big bands, since they were recently invited to perform at the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City.

And they didn't have to hitch hike to get there.

We can thank the Edmonds Rotary Club Daybreakers for sponsoring the day-long music festival.

There is no admission charge for those attending the big bands, small combos and jazz choral concerts during the day.

Between acts, you can pop over to the Saturday Farmers' Market to grab an ice cream cone, a hot dog, popcorn or some pastries.

The day's activities are climaxed by an evening show for a modest admission in Edmonds Center for the Arts.

It's not the Hollywood Palladium.  
Gene Krupa won't be on drums.

Jack Teagarden won't be playing trombone.  
Frank Sinatra won't be at the microphone.  

But to recall the lyrics of one of his greatest hits, a lot of us can still, "Dream, Dream, Dream."