Who could have imagined that a Tuesday night concert held on the outskirts of town would have garnered this type of excitement? In what turned out to be a near perfect evening, guesstimates put the total in attendance at the first Summer Sounds by Brophy concert to be very easily north of 3000 people. Cars were parked in and around Lake Brophy County Park in every direction, the bike rack at one time had more than 150 bikes on it from people who came to the park on the Central Lakes Trail, the Runestone Community Center Parking lot was filled with cars from people who took the shuttles running to and from the park.
The Alexandria Rotary Club helped the Douglas County Parks Department officially open up the new visitor center on site with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and concert combined. All of the local politicians representing the area were on hand, along with Douglas County commissioners, former Park Director Al Lieffort, current director Brad Bonk, nearly all of the current members of the Alexandria Rotary Club and countless other people who played a part in the park’s success.
As with any first-time event there will always be some challenges. Getting to the park was a bit of a challenge for some, food vendors were not ready for this amount of success and storm clouds and lightning west and south of the park near the end of the night made things interesting. Few complaints were heard because just about everything else went extremely smooth. The music and the venue was well received. The setting and near perfect weather in the beginning of the night made for a lot of positive reviews.
Organizers hoped the idea started after hearing from neighboring Rotary Clubs that a summer concert series is a great community effort that could become a good fundraising source to help give back to efforts they believe in. One of the organizers from the Alexandria club, Dave Hartmann, explains much of the details prior to the “first” concert in the following YouTube video
Organizers hoped the idea started after hearing from neighboring Rotary Clubs that a summer concert series is a great community effort that could become a good fundraising source to help give back to efforts they believe in. One of the organizers from the Alexandria club, Dave Hartmann, explains much of the details prior to the “first” concert in the following YouTube video
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The lineups for the next two concerts in the series includes:
JULY 25th – Slamabama 6:30pm (preceded by Salty Dogs at 5pm)
AUGUST 1st – Xpedition 6:30pm (preceded by Sucker Punch at 5pm)
SHUTTLES/PARKING
There are free shuttles leaving from the Douglas County Fairgrounds to/from the Visitor Center at Brophy Park every 10 minutes from 4:40 to 9:00pm. For details on parking at the park, follow this link.
FOOD/DRINK
There will be a lot of food vendors but only one pub, run by the Alexandria Rotary Club. This is how our club will raise money from the event to give back to our community!
Please note that no other alcohol or outside coolers are allowed on site. In order to purchase alcoholic beverages, you must be 21 and have a valid I.D.. All those purchasing alcoholic beverages must first visit the I.D. Station and receive a wristband.
