Just as it has for the past 16 years, the Portage Summer Music Series once again takes center stage every Tuesday from 6-7:30 p.m. with free community concerts.
Through the collaboration of the Portage Township Live Entertainment Association, Chamber of Commerce and Parks Department, local entertainment plays weekly in Woodland Park’s Oakwood Hall.
“We use all local entertainment because we have exceptional professional entertainment in NWI, and they all do a wonderful job,” organizer and Chamber member Terry Hardin said.
Occasionally, Portage graduates who have made a career in music will come back to headline a Tuesday night, like two-time Summer Music Series performer Emily Ann Thompson in her self-named Duo starring her and her husband, Kelly.
The Emily Ann Thompson Duo now travels around the world playing Celtic music, but Thompson still appreciates coming back to sing, dance and play her violin at home.
“It’s sentimental for a lot of reasons,” Thompson said. “Part of my heart’s still in Portage, and I just kind of want to give back to my hometown – it’s an honor to play in your hometown. I hope that I can be an inspiration for other kids who want to do music for a living [if] they see someone from their hometown who’s doing it.”
The concerts are greatly advertised, Thompson said.
Anywhere from 200 to 500 people attend the concerts each week, which is at the top of Oakwood Hall’s capacity. Eventually, the Series will be involved at the new performance pavilion in Founders’ Square.
“I’d like to get some student involvement – in fact I’ve spoken with Dr. [Richard] Weigel, school superintendent of Portage Township Schools – and I want to engage the high school students,” Hardin said.
As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, Hardin said, part of the Portage Township Live Entertainment Association’s mission is to provide education, which it does through the Winds of Summer and Summer Symphony concerts, which are played by middle and high school band and orchestra students, respectively, from Portage and other area school systems.
The concerts also helps bring in items for Gabriel’s Horn Homeless Shelter and the Portage Township Food Pantry. According to Hardin, 175 pounds of donated food contributed to the needs of 32 local families in the month of June alone.
Each year, the Portage Summer Music Series’ three contributing organizations help raise funds for the concerts through donations made by individuals and business, as well as grants from the Porter County Community and John Emerson Foundations.
“This is a city event,” Hardin said. “It’s not [just] a Portage Live Entertainment event, it’s not [just] a Chamber event, it’s not [just] a park event; it’s a city event intended for the community.”
For Hardin, that sense of community has had a strong impact that goes beyond planning the series every summer.
“I’ve developed almost another family here. A lot of folks are regulars who come out all the time,” Hardin said. “They know me, and that’s very rewarding, that’s part of the fun of it.”
Although not a musician, Hardin said he enjoys music and loves being able to bring summer concerts, which used to be in surrounding areas, home to Portage.
“A lot of people continue to come back, time and time and time again, because not is it really good music and entertaining music, but they meet up with their friends, so it’s a community social event. It’s interesting how people come early and interact with their friends and neighbors, but they often stay after the concert and spend half an hour just enjoying their family and friends.”
Other staples of Tuesday nights include Von’s Victorian Bakery, which sells desserts and snacks and the dancing talents of residents at Bonner Senior Center.
“They become part of our show,” Hardin said. “They come out, they’re excellent performers in their own right. They have a ball dancing, people enjoy watching them, so it’s really a fun thing.”
The 15-concert series will be followed by a $50 dollar pass for 18 concerts between Portage, Munster, Valpo, LaPorte and Warsaw from September to May.
For now, though, the Summer Concert Series will continue every Tuesday, with the exception of Summer Symphony, which will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 10. A full lineup can be found here. http://www.portagemusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=65