Bluegrass on the green grass on Friday

This Friday night in Fountain Park, The Travelin’ McCourys will be playing some of the best Bluegrass music ever played.  Last week, the Doo-Wah Riders played some country music with a Cajun twist to it.  This week, The Travelin’ McCourys bring a mix of traditional and progressive Bluegrass to the park.

Two of the members are sons of the legendary Bluegrass picker and singer Del McCoury. The sons have taken their dad’s traditional Bluegrass and have spiced it up a bit to attract a more diverse audience.

The Travelin’ McCourys, led by Ronnie and Rod McCoury on mandolin and banjo, are joined by fiddler Jason Carter, bassist Alan Bartram, and guitarist Cody Kilby. Looking at their website, they seem to be some of the busiest Bluegrass performers in America today. Following our Van Wert performance, they will be on to California, Texas, Oregon, and New York. That pretty much covers the country.

I know there are some Bluegrass aficionados in our area and I am sure you are aware of how terrific The Travelin’ McCourys are.  Let’s fill the park this Friday night for one big pickin’ time in Fountain Park. In the case of inclement weather, the concert would move into the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, 10700 Ohio 118 on the south edge of Van Wert. It would need to be a continuous rainy day for us to move inside, but we are covered just in case. Last Friday, we ran into a quick moving rain storm, but were able to get most of the concert in.

The Amvets of Van Wert County are serving food this Friday night, so be prepared to support their efforts and bring a hearty appetite with you to the park!  I am sure they will be ready for you by 5:30 p.m. in advance of the 7 p.m. concert.

Speaking of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, the 2017-18 season was just released and I hope you are as excited as I am about the line-up.  We are starting a brand new decade of presenting concerts and events and I think we have a blockbuster season.

I always hate to highlight certain performances because I always think each one will be good. That being said, I am sure many will be excited to see such popular artists as Jamie Farr in Tuesdays with Morrie, Little River Band, Olivia Newton-John, Kellie Pickler and Phil Vassar, The Texas Tenors, Michael W. Smith, Lonestar, and Kenny G.

Broadway stage shows will feature The Wizard of Oz, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Carol, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. We also feature a number of fun kids shows this season!  Perhaps the ones you should be the most excited about I haven’t even mentioned, but I’ll let you make your choice.

Ticket sales for NPAC Members begin today, June 21. Check out our website or watch your mailbox for your own personal catalog mailed directly to you.  We are mailing out thousands of catalogs to those on our mailing list.  They go out bulk mail, so as soon as the post office gets them out, yours should arrive.

We take a lot of pride in providing an interesting, informative, and creative publication for you to enjoy. Make sure you share one with someone who has never been to the Niswonger before. They will thank you! We have extra copies in the box office and at The Van Wert County Foundation office in downtown Van Wert.

The NPAC website, NPACVW.ORG, has all the information along with some very interesting video clips of the performers to help aid you in your choices.

It will undoubtedly be another huge year at the Niswonger. I thank our Programming Committee in helping make some wonderful choices. We also thank our season sponsors, Statewide Ford, Van Wert Federal, and Chuck and Karen Koch, along with many other event sponsors you will hear about and see as we draw closer to each event.

We look forward to welcoming you to a new decade of entertainment at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.

FINÉ.