Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 4, 2010

Beaver Band plays final note for concert season

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — Slightly cooler, but comfortable temperatures, combined with sunshine and great music from the Bluefield High School Beaver Band to close the curtain Friday on the 22nd season of the downtown Chicory Square Concert Series.

Sponsored by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, the weekly summer concert series has provided musical entertainment to downtown Bluefield for more than two decades. Daily Telegraph Managing Editor Samantha Perry thanked a team of volunteers who helped make this year’s concert a success, including Art Riley and Lynn Burnette, as well as the weekly musical performers.

“Lynn and Art have been a pleasure to work with,” Perry said. “They have worked so hard throughout the summer to make sure everything is in place and running smoothly for our weekly concerts.”

Perry also thanked Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen, and all of the city crews who have worked each week to ready Chicory Square for the weekly concerts, along with Daily Telegraph Publisher Darryl Hudson, and the entire newspaper staff. She also thanked the Bluefield Fire Department for providing a ladder truck and large American flag for Friday’s summer concert finale. A crowd of about 100 showed up for the final concert of the season.

“We didn’t have to cancel any of our concerts this summer,” Burnette said. “It’s been such  a wonderful summer and attendance has been wonderful. I just hope we can continue it. I love Bluefield.”

Riley said the summer concert series is critical to downtown Bluefield.

“It’s really been one of our most successful seasons,” Riley said. “”Our smallest crowd was 65 and our largest was over 225. It’s a great boost to the downtown. It brings people to the downtown. We feel it is a part of our downtown revitalization efforts. This concert has just been a big help to our downtown.”

Riley said he is already looking forward to the 23rd season of the Downtown Chicory Square Concert series in 2011.

“We’ve just got a great group of performers,” Riley said. “They all put on a great show. We look forward to many of them coming back next year.”

Mike Vinciguerra, a member of the Bluefield Board of Directors, said the weekly summer concert series is good for downtown Bluefield.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” Vinciguerra, who has attended the weekly concerts for the past six years, said. “I try not to miss any of the performances. It’s great for the people who perform to take the time out of their schedule to perform. I think it’s great the Daily Telegraph sponsors this and Art and Lynn do a lot of hard work. They help to make it a success.”

Marc Meachum, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, said the weekly summer concert series is a popular summer-time tradition in Nature’s Air-Conditioned City.

“It’s just marvelous for the community and the people who perform,” Meachum said. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase their talents, and to increase activity in the downtown.”

The Bluefield High School Marching Band under the direction of Bobby Jenks opened the 2010 season in May, and closed it on Friday.

“How many of you guys came to the spring concert?” Jenks asked the crowd Friday. “You will probably notice we are a lot bigger. We had 28 last spring. Now we have over 40. We keep growing. We are up to 40 now, and hopefully we will keep growing.”

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com



 

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