The region-spanning Ole Brook Wind Symphony will join the Easthaven Baptist Church choir Tuesday night for a performance in song dedicated to the many servicemen from Southwest Mississippi currently deployed overseas. Apart from dedicating the more than one hour-long concert to servicemen's families, the event will also serve as a goods drive to gather the pleasantries and necessities that help make extended stays in places like Iraq and Afghanistan a little more pleasant.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Easthaven.

Symphony director Dr. Jim Brewer said the idea to perform a patriotic show came from within. In September, the band began rehearsing "Homeward Bound," a song about servicemen coming home from abroad containing lyrics of soldiers thinking aloud about their future plans in America.

"That kind of triggered my thoughts," Brewer said. "'Homeward Bound' became kind of a thought that maybe we could just use this concert to honor the troops and their families."

The symphony will be performing a mix of patriotic, religious and family-oriented material, including the national anthem, "God Bless America" and several military-style marches by composer John Philip Sousa. The Easthaven choir will lend their voices to the performance for "Homeward Bound" and "God Bless America."

Easthaven music and worship pastor Robert Mayfield said joining the Ole Brook Wind Symphony for the performance was an extension of the church's mission. The church and band already have a standing partnership stemming from the church's annual Patriotic Picnic on July 4.

"We constantly want to provide ministries not only for our church folks, but also for the community," he said. "This is just another way we can get involved with the community and bring the ministry to them."

Aside from the performance, the Alpha Psi chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International will be accepting items for the concert's goods drive to assemble into care packages for the men and women overseas.

Acceptable care package items include toiletries, phone cards, DVDs, books and magazines and any type of playing card or board game. No perishable items or spray cans will be accepted. A full list of care package recommendations can be found online at http://militarycarepackages.net/.

Symphony trumpet player John Calcote said great emphasis is being placed on the goods drive. He said the drive would extend beyond the concert, with details to be worked out Tuesday night.

"If people don't bring things with them, we're hoping they'll bring it back and we can gather up lots of goods," Calcote said.

Calcote said donations would also be accepted to purchase additional care package items.