By Aila Boyd aboyd@ourvalley.org
The Botetourt County Chamber of Commerce held a networking luncheon last Tuesday at Lentini’s in Daleville.
Molly Henry, director of events, sales and marketing for Fralin & Waldron Inc., served as the guest speaker.
Henry informed members of the chamber that plans for the 2019 Daleville Summer Concert Series season were being finalized. The full list of dates and performers was released later in the week.
“It’s a lot of effort to get these things off the ground and produced,” she said.
One Thursday night event and two Saturday night events have been added to the schedule. In total, 25 events are currently planned. Events will include six Thursday Series events, nine Saturday Series events, one to two Movie Nights, and the Virginia Beer and Wine Festival. Henry explained that she assesses what works and what doesn’t work after each season in order to plan future events.
She added that she’s reluctant to add any more events because she doesn’t want to impact the turnout for other events throughout the county.
Henry noted that people will be able to see some of their favorite bands from years past.
The majority of the events will consist of cover bands. She explained that people tend to enjoy being able to listen to bands that are playing music that they already know and will be able to tap their feet along to.
Last year, the Thursday night events averaged 620 people. The Saturday events averaged 1,100 people.
“That’s good,” Henry said. “We feel good about the turnout.”
She explained that decisions for what bands would be featured in this year’s season were made based on generating high levels of attendance due to the fact that the more people who attend the concerts equals the more money the Daleville Institute is able to give to various charitable organizations. However, when attendance reaches 1,500 to 2,000, Henry said she starts to worry.
“Every time we put on a show, we want to have 600 to 650 people out on the field,” she said.
The following events are planned for the 2019 Daleville Summer Concert Series:
Thursday – Party at the Pavilion 5-9 p.m.
May 9 – Too Much Sylvia
May 23 – The Kings
June 6 – Uptown
June 20 – Superhold
July 18 – The Worx
August 1 – Fuzzy Logic
Saturday – Daleville Summer Concert Series 5-9 p.m.
April 20 – Burning Bridges
May 18 – Superhold
June 1 – Adam Rutledge and special guest Corey Hunley
June 22 – The Worx
July 6 – Fuzzy Logic
July 27 – Crawford & Power
August 17 – Uptown
September 21 – Fuzzy Logic
October 5 – British Invasion Experience
Henry also announced that Thursday movie nights would be returning for a trial run. She noted that in the past, the events received relatively low turnout, which made the continuation of the events financially unfeasible. Currently, one movie night is planned. The film will be family friendly, but an actual title hasn’t been decided upon yet. Henry added that if turnout for the event is high, additional movie nights could be added to the schedule.
The Botetourt Farmer’s Market will be returning this year. It will run from May through late September or early October depending upon the growing season. It will be held at the center every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Last year, the Daleville Institute donated $51,200 to the following organizations: the Addy Grace Foundation, Aware Foundation, Botetourt Education Foundation, Botetourt Farmer’s Market, Botetourt Kiwanis, Botetourt Rotary, Botetourt Longbeards, Botetourt Relay for Life, James River Band Boosters, Botetourt Lions Club, Ryan’s Case for Smiles, Roanoke Star Soccer, Maroon Crush, Orchard Hills Achievement Center, and Troutville Volunteer Fire Department.
Henry explained that funds are awarded to charitable organizations that provide volunteers to the various events and is dependent upon the number of volunteers and the number of events that they volunteer at. The institute prefers to donate funds to organizations that are either based in or service Botetourt County.
The dollar amount awarded by the institute is up significantly from the year before, when it donated $34,800.
Bank of Botetourt is the presenting sponsor for the season. Other sponsors include The Bank of Fincastle, Lumos Networks, The Fincastle Herald, Patrick Team Homes, Valley Business, and Stateson Homes.
To learn more about the Daleville Summer Concert Series, go to www.facebook.com/DalevilleSummerConcertSeries/.
