Coldwater series off to good start

COLDWATER - Other than a heavy rainfall that led to the postponement of one performance, organizers report the first year for the Coldwater Summer Concert Series has gone well as they head into the final two events of the season.

In conjunction with the opening of the new amphitheater in Coldwater Memorial Park, a series of free concerts was planned to provide the community with summer entertainment. The third concert, featuring a performance by the Nashville bluegrass music group Barefoot Movement is set for 7 p.m. Saturday. The series will conclude on Sept. 20 when party band The Flying Toasters takes the stage at 6:30 p.m. for a concert that was washed out on Aug. 16.

Peoples Bank President and series co-organizer Jack Hartings said the concerts thus far have been well attended. He noted that two shows were scheduled in conjunction with other events, the Taste of the Town and the Muscular Dystrophy Association softball tournament.

"One of the things we tried to do was to schedule around other events in Coldwater, and I think we will continue to try to do that," Hartings said. "You have a built-in crowd"

The standalone concert featuring Nessa on July 12 attracted a crowd of more than 200 people, according to Hartings.

The new amphitheater has drawn rave reviews.

"Our citizens, they are in awe of it," Hartings said, "The setting is majestic with trees all around." He noted performers also have complimented the quality of the venue.
The series has been organized by a two-member committee made up of Peoples Bank staff, Hartings, and Andrea Duerr, marketing manager/risk-management officer.

"The bank has taken on the responsibility of getting the series up and running," Hartings said.

In addition to Peoples Bank, other businesses financially supporting the series include S&K Products, Lefeld Welding and Supplies, Mercer Health and McDonald's.

"We felt this would be a great way to give back to the community," Hartings said. "We decided when setting this up that it would remain free and we wouldn't ask for donations."

This year's budget is about $12,000.

With no prior experience in planning for a concert series, Hartings said they decided to research how other series had been organized.

"Since this is our first year, we reached out to other amphitheaters as well as to the Portland Arts Place because they have performances to get an idea of what to expect," Hartings said. "All of that information helped us establish a budget."

The organizers noted a number of other area communities have concert series, so the emphasis was to avoid duplication.

"We didn't want ours to be in competition with theirs," he said, noting most of the Coldwater concerts were set for weekday evenings while most towns have theirs on weekends.

Emphasis was placed on drawing new artists to the area.

"One of the things we wanted to with our amphitheater was to bring in talent that local folks haven't been exposed to," Hartings said, noting one of the groups was from Michigan, while Barefoot Movement is from Nashville.

Duerr said the talent search has proven to be interesting.

"The most challenging aspect of planning the concert series has been choosing from all the amazing talent out there," she said. "It's been a fun experience meeting the talented musicians who have come to entertain in Coldwater."

As far as changes for next year, that will have to wait until the season has been completed.

"We have been taking notes but we haven't made any changes yet," he said.

Hartings said the goal is to establish the concert series as a summer destination for area residents.

"We want people to think, 'wow that was a great concert,' because then we know they will mark it on their calendar when we put together this series," Hartings said. "It takes a little time to build a reputation."