By Staff
Holiday celebrations continue Thursday evening at Beckwith Park in downtown Dowagiac, as two Americana traditions combine, inviting families to listen to the sweet harmony of the ever-popular hometown favorite, 4th Avenue, as they also enjoy an old-fashioned ice cream social.
In celebration of the holiday week, this Thursday's Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series of the Dowagiac Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will feature an old-fashioned ice cream social at the Haggin-Wimberley Bandstand, presented by the DDA, Caruso's Candy Kitchen and this year's court of the Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant.
As families begin arriving at the park for the 7:30 p.m. concert, Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Dowagiac DDA and Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, who coordinates the concert series, will be joined by Miss Dowagiac Courtney Dufour and her court, along with the staff of Caruso's Candy Kitchen, who will serve up the free ice cream social to concert-goers.
Phillipson said this is the fifth year for the ice cream social to be featured the week of the Fourth of July.
The concert series, which is co-hosted by the DDA and Chamber of Commerce and underwritten by fine art grants the DDA received from St. Denys Foundation of Dowagiac and the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, is celebrating its 10th season.
Music enthusiasts will welcome the return Thursday of 4th Avenue beginning at 7:30 p.m. "Due to their exhilarating stage presence and quality of performance, we specifically chose 4th Avenue to perform during this holiday week," Phillipson said. "The synchronized harmony of Tim and Lyndsey Borst and Joe and Karol Krueger promises to have audience members standing in ovation at their vocal talents. These young artists truly enjoy performing together and sharing their music with others."
The four vocalists are graduates of Southwestern Michigan College and are well-known entertainers throughout southwestern Michigan, performing annually at several community celebrations.
The group is expected to open the concert with more traditional holiday fare, "The Star Spangled Banner."
Thursday's concert is the sixth in the 11-week vocal and instrumental series. Upcoming concerts will feature: Grand Rapids Accordion Ensemble, July 14; Art Gomperz Band, July 21; and the back-to-back performance Fun Fest Thursday of the Battle Creek Pops Ensemble and the Old Moonlighters, July 28.