The arrival of summer means that the city of Shawano’s parks and recreation department is unleashing its music and entertainment programs that have become common signs of summer.
Thursdayz at Franklin will be continuing its tradition of providing bands and performers that keep people dancing, laughing and clapping. Local favorites like Spark Spark Bang and Star Six Nine will be back on the stage at Franklin Park, but a new addition to the lineup is the Two Fifths Party Band bringing polka to the park in August.
Thursdayz will also be bringing back the Kids From Wisconsin to perform outside July 2. Traditionally, the Kids have performed at Shawano Community High School each summer, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and most venues were closed down, Shawano arranged from the Kids to perform at Franklin Park.
“One of the things we do when we’re booking is try to get community feedback on what people liked and suggestions for the future,” said Maddie Stuewer, programs and events coordinator. “We try to mix some favorites with some new.”
A new act that is coming is a Pink Floyd tribute band called Wish You Were Floyd. That band will perform July 16.
“One of the things we started doing last year was getting cover artists,” Stuewer said.
Franklin Park tends to fill quickly for Thursdayz events, so for those who prefer something a little more laid back, the city’s Sunday night Music in the Park, one of the oldest city music programs, is kicking off another summer at Arlington Park. Familiar musicians like Wade Fernandez, Sarah Koenigs, Lonesome Road, Mike Magee and Skip Jones will perform in the wilds of the park through Aug. 16.
“I think the thing about the Arlington Park series that sets it apart is the overall vibe,” Stuewer said. “It’s more acoustic. It’s a little more laid back. On Sunday, you’re at the end of your weekend and getting ready for the next week. You just kind of want to relax, and Arlington Park just has that atmosphere.”
The city is also continuing its tradition of the Naberhood Block Parties, bringing families to the newest addition of the park family, the Naberhood Plaza. However, the city is only doing programs on Tuesdays due to the Saturday events and performances drawing much less attention than hoped.
Matt Hendricks, parks and recreation director, noted the department annually reviews programs to see what works and what doesn’t. The city tried changing the time of the Saturday events, as well as the setup, doing concerts on that day instead of family activities to see if it would make a difference, he said, and it didn’t.
“At the end of the day, for some reason, they weren’t greatly attended as we had hoped, so it wasn’t worth that particular effort,” Hendricks said. “The Tuesday programs have been. We’ve seen growth. We’ve seen a lot of people showing up and having fun. We decided to concentrate our efforts on what was going well.”
Among the family events at the Naberhood are a Nintendo Night on June 26, Theatre Night on June 23 and Raptor Education on July 21. Returning for some fun shows are the Mischief and Magic Music Show on July 14 and the Cloud Nine Fire Show on Aug. 18. Cloud Nine will do a free workshop at 6 p.m. with the actual show taking place at 7 p.m.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Abigail Brown, after having carefully stacked dice one on top of another, decided it was time to bring the tower down as her father, Tom Brown, of Shawano, watches during Family Game Night on June 2 at the Naberhood Plaza. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
