Saturday, in the park; I think it was the Fourth of July”

The lyrics are from a song by the band Chicago, the first band that Jamie Flick said he had ever seen live, was heard while he was at West Virginia University.

Chicago’s lyrics could not be more appropriate to the state legislator and others involved in planning the America250 PA Lycoming County Celebration Concert at Brandon Park on “Saturday,” June 27, the weekend preceding Independence Day.

The concert and celebration was announced inside the Lycoming County Commissioner’s conference room Thursday, a celebration that had been planned for several months, as early as October.

“Last fall, we began planning for what we hoped would be one-of-a-kind countywide celebration – not only of America’s 250th birthday but also of Lycoming County,” said county Commissioner Scott Metzger, chairman of the Lycoming County America250 PA Committee.

Joining the already popular HomeMade Days in Brandon Park, the celebratory concert will feature rotating musical acts during the day, with a culmination of patriotic tunes at the park bandshell from 6 to 8 p.m.

Get ready to celebrate

The free community concert is being made possible thanks to a collective effort of the county, the City of Williamsport, Williamsport/Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce, the office of state Senator Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township; and those with state Reps. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport and Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township offices, along with countless members of the community.

Those at the press conference included: Yaw, Flick, Hamm, Lycoming County Commissioners Marc C. Sortman, vice chairman, and Mark Mussina, Mayor Derek Slaughter, and Walt Straiton, executive producer/musical director and Ron Frick providing information on how to donate with the Economic & Community Growth Corporation of Lycoming County, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the chamber of commerce. The organization is looking for financial donations and for those considering donating they can reach out to Frick. One of the ideas for the general public to consider to cover some of the expenses of the event was to have 250 people donate $250.

Under the direction of Straiton, what started as an idea has slowly started to become a reality, Metzger said. Guests can expect to see performances by local groups and artists that day starting at noon at the park’s bandshell and continuing until the concert which begins at 6 p.m. and ends around 8 p.m.

Tethered to the already popular HomeMade Days in Brandon Park, the celebratory concert will culminate with patriotic tunes.

The planners thought “let’s turn it into something really, really great that is a celebration of our unique heritage here,” Straiton said. “We know some of our heritage resides in Little League baseball and all the amazing things in sports and activities and the arts, in general,” he said. “Music, specifically, occupies a very, very important role in this community,” he said.

The genesis and thought behind all of this was ‘how can we bring so many artists together in one particular form and celebrate that which permeates throughout the county?'”

The celebration concert at 6 p.m. will feature many of the county’s best bands and musicians. It will be anchored by the 65-piece Williamsport Summer Pop’s Orchestra.

In celebration of America’s Semiquincentennial, the concert will bring together all sorts of musical acts, including the Repasz Band, Billtown Brass, Uptown Music Collective, All-County High School Marching Band (that will be part of the finale at the end), the Combined Williamsport Civic Concert, Williamsport Chamber Choir, and County High School Choir, and many more musical entertainers.

The event will also celebrate theatre, highlighting some of the activities of the Community Theatre League, including an original musical performed, and highlighting the upcoming production of Anastasia that will be at the Journey Bank Community Arts Center.

“We hope to have special historic fife and drum corps, a multiservice color guard, and popular artists who have gone on to shine such as Dylan Rockoff, Nicole Miele and others to be announced.

It will culminate in a massive performance of the Stars and Stripes Forever – that will hopefully be remembered by all, Straiton said.

“We are probably looking at 200 to 300 performers,” Straiton said.

There will be three stages, with the main stage, one directly in front of it, and a third 45 degrees to the left. Along with HomeMade Days, it is going to be a complete and comprehensive family celebration, Straiton said.

250PA

The Pennsylvania Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial (America250PA) was established by the legislature and governor in 2018 to plan, encourage, develop and coordinate the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, Pennsylvania’s integral role in that event, and the impact of its people on the nation’s past, present. “It is a momentous occasion to put together something like this,” Yaw said.

Yaw gave Liz Vollman of his office a “shout out,” because she has been deeply involved in this. “Done a lot of work,” he said of Vollman. “Quite honestly, I knew a little bit of what was going on and what the announcement was going to be,” he said.

“It is exciting and sounds like it will be quite a day,” he added.

EPIC – Educate, Preserve, Innovate and Celebrate

Yaw said one of the benefits of 250PA is to educate people of how Pennsylvania has been a part of the celebration of the United States.

“Our first event that Pennsylvania participated in was 1876,” Yaw said, adding that every 50 years after that there has been a celebration in Philadelphia in Convention Hall.

Actually, next Tuesday Yaw said he and others are going to Convention Hall for a celebration to be able to go into the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

“It is kind of exciting to participate,” he said, adding “and to make Lycoming County a key player in this concert and that day. “Hopefully everybody puts it on their calendar right now!”

Flick said whenever he or other colleagues leave the House floor and enter the Rotunda and there is “music it is enlightening and just lifts your spirits whether you are having a good day or a bad day.”

“We are going to celebrate the United States of America being the greatest country in the world for 250 years,” Hamm said.

Lycoming County has had a long history in that semisesquicentennial, with the City of Williamsport once known as the Lumber Capital of the World, Little League Baseball starting in the city and Lycoming County, Hamm said.

There is a little debate as to whether the Fair Play Men were in the county or neighboring Clinton County, but Hamm said he likes to claim the Fair Play Men because certainly we know they were in the Jersey Shore region and area and celebrated their own independence on July 4, 1776.

“The reality is 250 years of being the greatest country in the world, Lycoming County has been at the forefront of that for a long time, and literally since the beginning,” Hamm said.

“I could not think about a better way to celebrate 250 years than bringing together our community by going to Brandon Park in the City of Williamsport and hosting the talent of our own community,” he said.

“It is a great day of not only celebrating 250 years of being the greatest country in the world but 250 years of communities coming together, being the foundation of what America stands for and now the exciting news that we are going to bring the talent from our own community and display it for thousands,” Hamm said.

Separately, a possible display of fireworks, not associated with this concert, is being discussed by another organization, the Sun-Gazette was told.