Fountain Park music events are coming!

With the calendar flipping over to May and with the Niswonger Performing Arts Center concerts now in the books for 2015-16, it is certainly time to start thinking about Fountain Park concerts.  We are exactly one month from the opening concert of the Van Wert County Foundation sponsored Fountain Park concerts.

It will be another huge weekend with the Peony and Art-Rageous Festival going on in conjunction with our concert on June 3. The Together Band will open our summer season. They are a fun band that plays hit songs from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Hailing from the Port Clinton area, this band has made a tradition of providing good family fun, with music everyone loves and recognizes, and have performed at festivals and concert series throughout Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

They come highly recommended and I think you will love them as they open our season in Fountain Park, along with all the other festivities surrounding the park.

After a week off, we return for three straight Friday nights. Another new band from Cincinnati will take our stage on June 17. Madrigal is “The Ultimate Tribute” to Carlos Santana and I know a lot of you are looking forward to this concert. Then on June 24, we present a band called Beginnings, a tribute to the music of Chicago — the band. I heard them this past year in New York and just fell in love with their magnificent horn line and soaring vocals. I didn’t want them to stop singing, so I brought them to Van Wert. I think you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.

The traditional Independence Day concert will fall on July 1 for us this year. The Lima Pops Orchestra will return with its “Celebration of America” concert. This is always a great way to begin the Fourth of July holiday weekend.  And to make it even a little more special for everyone, we will be showing an outdoor movie following the concert. A huge inflatable movie screen will go up in front of the band pavilion right after the concert and, as soon as it is dark enough, we will show Disney’s original Jungle Book movie from 1967. With all the excitement about the current Jungle Book movie, I think many will enjoy seeing the original movie. It’s a fun animated Disney picture, perfect for the entire family!

That just takes us through the first half of the summer. There will be four more exciting concerts for you to enjoy, beginning July 15 and going through August 12.  I will tell you more about them in the near future. You can also go to the Niswonger website, the Van Wert City Parks website and the Van Wert County Foundation website for more information on the entire season lineup.

Well, our First United Methodist Choir is headed out to the Pacific Northwest this Saturday. We are one of 27 performing ensembles invited to perform at the United Methodist General Conference. I am sure it will be a memorable trip. Thank you to all who have helped support us in our venture of heading out west. Your prayers will be appreciated as we travel and minister in music.

By the way, while we are in Seattle, we plan on catching up with a couple Van Wert natives who currently live there. One of my high school friends, Dr. Tom Marxen, has a cosmetic dental practice located in Woodenville, Washington. Many of you will remember Tom as the son of Dr. Marxen, who was a surgeon in Van Wert for many years. Tom was a very fine trumpet player in the Van Wert Bands.

We will also be touching base with Lyndsay Brooks Pepple. She is the daughter of George and Altha Brooks, who still live in Van Wert. Lyndsay actually used to work for us at Hoverman Music Center. It’s always good to bring a little of Van Wert lovin’ to some former Van Wertians!

Because of our trip, I will catch you in “Music in Van Wert” in two weeks. Until then, keep a song in your heart!

FINÉ.