Saving the Summer Concert Series

The Scotch Plains Management Corporation, the administrative body for the township's downtown district, will likely sponsor the township's free summer concert series.

Five members of the SPMC's executive board – four Scotch Plains business owners and Mayor Nancy Malool – unanimously approved a tentative motion Thursday night to donate $1,500 to the series. If the board reaffirms this motion at its next meeting in July, the money will be used to rent a sound system for two of the series' four proposed concerts.

"This is what we're all about," said Dominick Verdic, a member of the executive board. "We promote ourselves, we promote the businesses."

The concert series, organized each year by the Township Council's Cultural Arts Committee, lost its funding in April due to budget cuts. But about three weeks ago, Councilman Kevin Glover resuscitated the project by snagging sponsorships from four companies that serve the community: PNC Bank, Family Investors Company, Beckerman and Company insurance, and Patch.com.

"It's going to be a win-win for the town, a win-win for the businesses here," Glover said.

The series will feature four distinct musical acts: a jazz ensemble July 15, a symphony orchestra playing classical and Broadway standards July 22, a singer-songwriter July 29, and a folk/alternative-rock singer August 12. The bands and musicians are from the area, but Glover requested that their names be withheld until their agreements with the township are finalized.

Mayor Malool and SPMC board member Steve Goldberg initially raised reservations about the sponsorship motion. They emphasized that the series must benefit businesses beyond Park Avenue.

"If we choose to donate money for this cause, we have to get bang for the buck for the entire [downtown district]." Goldberg said.

To this end, Goldberg, Malool, and the other board members attached specific provisions to their sponsorship motion: they stipulated that the Cultural Arts Committee must use the SPMC funds for the jazz ensemble and symphony orchestra concerts – two performances they said they expect will draw the biggest crowds.

The SPMC's sponsorship also guarantees its businesses the right to set-up booths at all four shows, and to erect an SPMC "hospitality tent," where board members will provide free water to concert goers and distribute pamphlets filled with coupons for local businesses.

Both the SPMC and the Cultural Arts Committee agreed, however, that the success of the event ultimately rests with the businesses, themselves.

"It sounds good, but it all depends on [their] participation," Malool said. "Will they do it? That's the big unknown."