It’s been a 38-year career with the Vermont National Guard’s 40th Army Band for Jim Lanpher. He hangs up his horn Aug. 10 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 60, said the Addison County Independent. He’s actually been playing the trumpet since he was in grade school. His father also played the trumpet, but that was not the reason for Jim’s choice of instruments. “I liked the way the trumpet looked and sounded, and I thought it was pretty cool,” he said. He has played with the band in Italy, Panama, and at many military funerals. After graduating from University of Vermont, he passed the Army physical and an audition for the Fort Devens, Mass., band. He decided to become a part-time soldier, a military musician with the 40th Army Band, and chose his civilian career in the banking field. Come 2010, he will be able to celebrate his first Fourth of July holiday with his family. What will they do? “Probably go see the 40th Army Band play.”