Let the summer music fun begin!

Since 2002, The Van Wert County Foundation has been providing free concerts in Fountain Park for everyone to enjoy.  Now, we are embarking on our 14th season of what we call the Fountain Park Summer Music Series.

I remember the first season.  I had been on the job as coordinator of performing arts for The Van Wert County Foundation for about five months. We had no idea of whether people would want to come to outdoor concerts on a regular basis. The Foundation was willing to give it a try and entrust me to put a series together.

The very first concert featured the Kettering Banjo Society. I thought a few people might get a kick out of hearing a bunch of banjo players and a tuba come up from Kettering, Ohio, and play some old time music in the park. Wow!  I guess I underestimated the interest. There must have been 500 people in the park for that inaugural concert. I remember the comment a friend made of how cool it was to sit outside, relax under the stars and listen to good music. I guess it caught on and took hold.

Since then, we have all enjoyed over a hundred concerts and are looking forward to a new slate starting in just a few weeks. As has been the tradition for the past several years, we will launch our first Fountain Park concert with the Peony and ArtRageous Festivals on Friday night, June 5. One of the biggest named bands of all time will perform in Fountain Park: Ambrosia.  If you are like me, you probably couldn’t name too many songs they ever sang, but once you hear them, you will immediately recall them with fondness.

If you grew up in the 1970s and ‘80s listening to the radio (that’s what we used to listen to when we wanted to know what was popular), then you heard Ambrosia all the time.  As a matter of fact, even today when I am in restaurants and other places of business where music is being played, I hear Ambrosia songs. Just to jog your memory, here are a few titles: “How Much I Feel,” “Biggest Part of Me,” and “You’re the Only Woman.” Some of the other groups Ambrosia either played for or toured with are like a “Who’s Who” of rock music: Alan Parsons, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, and the Doobie Brothers.  That’s pretty good company!

Well, that’s who we open the Fountain Park Summer Music Series with this year. Remember, all our summer concerts begin at 7 p.m.  As with other years, this opening weekend will be filled with all kinds of food vendors, craft vendors and artisans in and about the park, not to even mention the Peony Festival Committee will be serving food from the Rotary concession stand. It will be a lively and fun time as we open the summer in Fountain Park.

If you see a Van Wert County Foundation trustee, let them know you appreciate these free concerts made possible with funds from the Saltzgaber Music Fund. The cooperation we receive from the City Parks and Recreation Department is appreciated, as is the fine work of the Evergreen Garden Club.

Here is the rest of the line-up for this summer in Fountain Park:

• Friday, May 22 — The Van Wert Area Concert Band
• Saturday, June 20 — Blue Moon Swamp: a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute
• (GOBA weekend in Van Wert)
• Friday, June 26 — The Hoo Doo Loungers: New Orleans style band
• Friday, July 3 — Lima Symphony Pops: An American Celebration!
• Friday, July 10 — Van Wert Area Concert Band
• Friday, July 17 — Shotgun Wedding: a city/country band
• Friday, July 24 — CSN Songs: a tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• Friday, August 7 — Your Generation, featuring Fifty Amp Fuse
• Friday, August 14 — Van Wert Area Concert Band

FINÉ.