Dear General Ann,   I have enjoyed the letters and responses, which have been appearing in The Reporter. This is a different type of question. I am a booster of the bands and particularly of the Band Competition held every year at Riverside Stadium. My question is, in your opinion, why don't more people attend this highly entertaining and unique experience?   Thank you, Music Lover   Dear Music Lover,   This is a very good question and frankly I do not have a very good answer. I have some opinions that I will share. Last year's Generalissimo Don Farthing started the Band Competition 27 years ago and it has only gotten larger and better with each passing year.   To show how these things evolve, originally it was a stretch to have enough bands for it to be effective. Now, due to time restraints, the number of participants has to be restricted. In fact, the band competition is very important to the bands of today. Yes, the parade marching is nice but the competition, frankly, is why they come to Neewollah. Almost without exception, the band directors and participants praise highly the event.  Another interesting fact is that the bands bring large numbers of parents and supporters to our community. Sincere band supporters back and support their bands as fervently as sports' parents. Now to your questions about the local support. Remember this event is put on largely by the band parents and so a number of local residents are involved. But, really, I just think this is the best kept secret of Neewollah. It is one tremendous show and those who do attend will almost always return. However, after the parade, food stands, carnival and ten days of Neewollah, I think the band competition simply does not occur to many people. Hopefully this letter will encourage more to attend and this number will continue to grow.    Ann W. Crow                    Generalissimo 2005