Spread the Music Foundation to offer summer concert series at GHT park

Tue, Feb 9, 2010    to del.icio.us

GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP — Tri-Cities residents who enjoy the local outdoor concert scene will have another waterfront venue to add to their repertoire this summer.

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Spread the Music Foundation will sponsor an eight-week free concert series called Sounds of Summer Music, starting June 16, at Grand Haven Township's Pottawattomie Park.

Concerts can be seen near the park's waterfront area from about 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays through Aug. 4.

"We love Pottawattomie Park," said Spread the Music Foundation Director Dave Palmer, a Grand Haven Township resident. "It's a beautiful park. I learned to swim there. We want people to walk down, ride bikes down, drive down (to the park) — everyone is welcome — and enjoy the music."

The weekly concerts will feature a variety of genres, including rock and a youth songwriter night.

"We'll have a huge variety ... but we're still putting the list together," Palmer said.

While the concert series will be free, there will be "pass-the-hat" donations for the foundation offered at each concert, Palmer said.

The series will join the lineup of free concerts in the summer on Tuesdays at Central Park in Grand Haven and Thursdays at Mill Point Park in Spring Lake Village, which are sponsored by the Grand Haven Area Arts Council.

"That's why we made it on Wednesdays — we don't want to compete with other music," Palmer said. "We want to enhance our area with more music events."

On Monday, the Grand Haven Township Board unanimously approved a license agreement for the foundation to use the park's facility on Comstock Street for the series. The agreement exempts performers from the township's noise ordinance during concert hours.

"It's just something to increase the use of our parks and provide something for the public at no charge," Township Supervisor Karl French said. "It's free entertainment. ... It's about helping the community and helping a good cause."

Spread the Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises money to help kids age 18 and younger become involved in music.

The foundation has organized several summer concerts, including ones at Harbor Island Music Festival; however, not an entire summer series, according to Palmer. While the foundation and Huntington Bank are the main sponsors for the concert series, the organization is seeking monetary sponsors.

On the Net: www.spread-the-music.org