Here Come the Mummies perform Friday.

Few minor-league ball parks in the country have as much history as Engel Stadium, so it seems only fitting that the venerable venue would play host to the world's oldest band.

Here Come the Mummies will perform their 4,000-year-old brand of funk Friday night, May 2, at Engel as part of the American Dream Concert to benefit the Engel Foundation and the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business at UTC.

This is the second year that Friends of the Festival, which also produces Riverbend, has presented the American Dream Concert at Engel in conjunction with the Chattanooga Area Veteran's Armed Forces Day Parade, which will be held along Market Street beginning at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Reviewing officer for the parade, which will carry the "Army Strong" theme this year, will be Maj. Gen. Leslie J. Carroll, the chief of staff for the U.S. Army Forces Command.

History tells us that The Mummies, who perform in full mummy gear from head to toe, were unearthed by Professor Nigel Quentin Fontenelle Dumblucke IV in 1922 at a dig in the desert south of Tunis. Members' actual identities are kept under wraps, literally, but we know them as Mummy Cass, Eddie Mummy, Java, Spaz, KW Tut, Mummy Rah, The Flu, B.B. Queen, The Pole and Midnight Mummy.

The myth surrounding the band is that it is composed of well-known Nashville musicians and that they can claim more than two dozen Grammy Awards between them.

"They have become a community favorite over the years, and they are a lot of fun," says Friends of the Festival Executive Director Chip Baker.

The VEP at UTC is similar to one at Oklahoma State University, according Robert Dooley, dean of the College of Business at UTC.

"It is focused on veterans who are interested in starting or growing a business," Dolley says. "You don't have to be a UTC student or graduate, and people come from all over."

It is a yearlong, intensive program that utilizes not only UTC resources but also mentors from the local business community.

The Engel Foundation, run by Janna Jahn, was created to raise funds to repair, renovate and promote the use of the stadium, which was built in 1930.

The stadium hosted an opera last week and will host a Kentucky Derby Party benefitting Chattanooga's Kids on the Block Saturday, May 3. In June, four teams from the Tennessee Vintage Base Ball Association will play a doubleheader under 1864 rules of the game.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.