Archive: Around Town

The Thursday Concerts in the Park series have been very popular in Myers Park.  They have featured an eclectic blend of styles with everything from old fashioned concert band to rock to country.  This year Lansing Park Superintendent Steve Colt hopes to expand the concerts with an acoustic series at Ludlowville Park.  Colt hopes the music will attract to the smaller, historic park where they can discover the beauty of Ludlowville Falls and be in a place that was part of early movie history.  He is hoping to receive a grant that will pay for the new series, allowing it to go forward.

"The idea is to take advantage of how really nice Ludlowville Park has become," Colt says.  "There is that hand built band stand in Ludlowville that was custom built by Ludlowville residents.  That's been there for quite a few years now, but we've never really taken the step and actually used it for concerts.  Right now we have three dates, if we get the grant approved."

Last year Colt applied for and received a Community Celebrations Grant from the Tompkins County Tourism Program.  That money helped underwrite the Myers Park concert series, with donations at the gate covering the rest.  Last year's concert series was so popular that it actually ran at a small profit.  For the season the concert season took in $4,331.44 in donations.  With the tourism grant that netted a $1981.44 profit after expenses.  That allows some wiggle room to apply this year's grant -- if it is awarded -- to the new series.


Colt wants to weave the history of Ludlowville into the idea of having a concert series there.  Ludlowville park and the falls behind it were silent movie locations in the days when Wharton Studios was based in Ithaca in the early 1900s.  Town Historian Louise Bement has found material that Colt can use in formulating the grant application, which he was getting ready to submit this week.

"A lot of people will come to Ludlowville park to hear the music," Colt says.  "With brochures and handouts they'll also find out it's not just a little pocket park.  Silent movies were shot here.  They'll learn a little local history while they're there, and we'll use the concerts to get the people there."


Even the band stand is a piece of Lansing history.  Like the band stand in Myers Park, the Ludlowville Park gazebo was built and donated to the Town by Lansing residents.  The replica of the original bandstand that originally stood on the site was built by Ludlowville residents in 1995.

The new grant will pay for three concerts plus signage to help promote the events.  The new series is slated for Fridays.  The Ludlowville Park gazebo is smaller than the Myers band stand.  it will be used as a stage for the smaller, acoustic groups.  The Lone Rangers, formerly Cornerstone, is lined up for July 15.  Ludlowville musician Paul Kemkes will play an acoustic concert on July 22, and Kip and Rich will finish it out on July 29th, contingent on the grant coming through..

Parking may be an issue because Ludlowville Park only has a small parking lot that holds a few cars.  But Colt says that a little congestion will be a good thing to get people into the park for an acoustic series.  He notes that Ludlowville residents can easily walk to the concert, and there are a couple of DEC fishermen's parking lots that are within walking distance. 

In the Myers Park series bands typically keep playing if it rains, with the audience surrounding the band stand with their cars to keep out of the rain.  That won't be possible at Ludlowville Park, but Colt says he'll try to reschedule concerts that get rained out.

In the meanwhile Colt is filling out the lineup for the Thursday Myers Park concerts.  Two groups are returning this summer, and Colt says he is hiring more local groups this year.  Iron Horse, a southern rock band, and country band Tailor Made are both returning.  Blues and Rock band Five Mile Drive will play at Myers for the first time this summer, as well as classic rock band Bad Alibi which features the Lansing Highway Department's own Scott Hollister on drums.  Kicking off the series will be Finding Tomorrow, featuring Luke Kutler, Nina Lindberg, Tom Arleo, and Yusong Liu- Keyboard.


"We were excited to get them and give them a chance to have their own night," Colt says.  "This may be it for them, because most of them are seniors and they'll probably go their own separate ways after the graduate.  That's why I wanted to get them in there first and lead it off."

Colt says he'll ask for donations to see how it works in a different setting.  If successful the series may be able to sustain itself and even expand in future years.

"It's perfect for this genre of music," Colt says.  "I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes."

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