There is music throughout Tyrone as the summer concert series continues on Sunday, August 17.
Reservoir Park will resound with the sounds of the South as the Summer Sunday series presents “Summit City Dixieland Band” at 6 p.m. on the Reservoir Park amphitheater stage. “The Summit City Saints Dixiland Band” specializes in good old-fashioned, but familiar American Dixieland, Ragtime and Blues music evolving since the Roaring Twenties.
Fred Lynn, a native trumpeter of central Pennsylvania, originally formed the band in the Midwest in 1990. In 1996, Fred returned home and reformed the band with some of the Centre Region’s finest musicians including: Dr. Ned Deihl from State College on clarinet, Bill Fatula from Howard on trumpet, Jay Vonada from Aaronsburg on trombone, Dr. Phil Jensen from Boalsburg on tuba, Dr. Frederick Brown from State College on keyboard, Jim Kerhin from State College on the plectrum banjo, and Jim Franklin from Lock Haven on drums.
Contrary to some misconceptions that the “Summit City Saints” come from a mountain-top area; the band was named after the very flat-land city in which it originated (Fort Wayne, Indiana), known as the “Summit City” because of its relative higher elevation in that part of the Midwest.
This 8-piece instrumental ensemble is brightly clad in patriotic red, white and blue Dixieland attire. Their traditional and upbeat style of music has been featured at county fairs, arts festivals, college football tailgates, park concerts, conventions, private parties, corporate outings, professional sporting events, riverboat cruises and award-winning parade floats.
Audience participation and good fun is promoted with audience “volunteers” given the opportunity to perform along with the band on novelty percussion instruments during selected numbers. They also frequently give away American flags and other patriotic novelties to members of the audience.
The band recorded its first album “Summit City Saints Dixieland Favorites” in 1995 and has opened shows for the “Smothers Brothers” and other well-known entertainment and sports celebrities. “The Summit City Saints” are a real crowd pleaser, with style and selections enjoyed by all ages.
Summer Sunday concerts begin at 6 p.m. in Tyrone’s Reservoir Park and, in the event of rain, will be held in the Lutheran Church on Logan Avenue and Thirteenth Street.
All concerts are made possible by a grant from the PA Council on the Arts, a state agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and Tyrone Borough.
Concerts are free of charge and audience members should bring a chair or blanket for seating. For additional information, contact the Arts Line office at 684-ART2.
