Green Heron Bluegrass Concert

Dateline: Aug. 8, 2020

The skies for the second of August were mostly clouded over but it was warm. The weather forecast indicated a chance of rain showers but the start of the showers kept moving back and forth from early afternoon to early evening. The concert went on as scheduled.

The Green Heron Bluegrass Duo arrived early with a few friends. While waiting, yours truly led them over to the REO Speedwagon garage and gave a history lesson about John Thomas Hayes, the truck, and the school children he used to transport to and from the Allenstown Grammar School now known as Town Hall.

The Fire Department volunteers soon arrived and set up their tables and canopy behind the Speedwagon Garage. Within a short time, the hot dog steamer was up to temperature and they were ready to serve.

Back on Friday afternoon, EDC members and the Town Administrator used spray chalk to mark out six-foot squares on the lawn for safe distancing. Thank heaven Derik found a jig that let you walk upright while spraying. Without it, there would have been a lot of sore backs from leaning over while spraying.

On Sunday, EDC members set up a table with extra masks and hand sanitizer and marked six-foot spaces for the food concession and the portable toilet. As people arrived, they were encouraged to pick a square to sit in and take a mask if they needed one. The concert started promptly at 4:00 and people continued to arrive during the first hour. Green Heron quickly captured their enthusiasm with their lively music.

Soon you could see people tapping their feet, clapping, or tapping their knees in rhythm to the music. At the peak of attendance, we had about 80 people enjoying the music.

Every so often, one of the children would walk up close to the musicians in the gazebo, perhaps to get a better view or better enjoy the music being performed.

At one point, Scott Heron asked if anyone had a special request. Yours truly shouted out "Play Elzic's Farewell," to which Scott replied, "That's the next song on our list!" The link takes you to a recording from 2018 in Pembroke.

A ways into the concert, the Town Administrator asked for permission to livestream the concert and soon had the concert broadcasting on Facebook via his laptop. Now that's a first for our concerts. The recording begins toward the end of the first song set.

To watch the concert, click  HERE . When the video displays, click on it to start the audio.

To make things a bit more festive, EDC member Jeff Venegas and a friend brought a set of those Corn Hole Game Boards and played the game near the sidewalk as the concert progressed.

As a surprise to all attendees, a vintage 1950s Ice Cream Truck pulled into the parking lot around 4:30. As soon as it parked, several young people ran over to get a sweet treat. This unannounced attraction was arranged by Fire Chief Paul St. Germain. Thanks, Paul! It was a real crowd pleaser.

After the mid-concert break, a short rain shower sent several people scurrying for shelter or popping open their umbrellas, while a small number of people departed. On the bring side, it probably washed any trace of virus out of the air.

But it did not last long and the concert resumed with a special Green Heron rendition of that Bluegrass classic, "Orange Blossom Special," with Betsy Heron doing a fantastic job on fiddle and Scott Heron playing harmony on guitar. For the concert, they renamed the song, "Blueberry Express Special." For a follow-up number, they switched to a few tracks from their second album, "New Pair of Shoes."

As the concert ended, everyone left in a happy mood and many people thanked the EDC for a most enjoyable event. Green Heron said they had a great time performing for us and were grateful that we were able to draw such a good sized crowd.

What You Can Do

Get ready for the next concert which is scheduled for
Sunday September 13th.