September marks the end of summer and the 2009 Juniper Park Summer Concert Series. The concerts were very popular and attendance was again at an all time high with hundreds of neighborhood residents arriving with their lawn chairs eager to enjoy a night of great music.
Every week throughout July there was a concert, starting with the popular Big Band Sound of the Lou Picardi Orchestra, which had people dancing in the aisles as they played some of the tunes of yesteryear that everyone remembers.
Italian Night was another popular favorite featuring the sounds of the Italian Pop Band, Caleps. They sang their hearts out to beautiful Italian love songs with everyone singing along. Then at the end of the concert they played “We are the World” with all the children in attendance up on the stage. It was quite a stirring sight to see the kids holding hands, swaying back and forth to the great “We are the World.”
Irish Night was another big hit featuring the New York Showband and songs from the popular Tommy Flynn who sang everyone's favorite Irish tune. Everyone was Irish on Irish Night in Juniper Valley Park, singing along with the band.
German Night featuring the popular die Schlauberger (dSb) was another memorable event with people dancing and singing along to the German songs that we don't hear enough of anymore. This was a concert that had been rained out earlier in July and there were so many requests to make sure we got this band rescheduled on September 3rd and thankfully we did! It was a beautiful evening with a perfect temperature of 75 degrees with a full moon.
Sponsors for all the concerts included the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and the Juniper Park Civic Association as well as the Juniper Valley Park Conservancy, Connolly's Corner, and the Federation of Italian American Organization of Brooklyn & Queens. Special thanks to the NYC Department of Parks especially Queens Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski, Joanne Amagrande, Iris Rodriguez Rosa and Phil Sparacio.
Sadly, the 2009 Summer Concert Series is over and everyone puts away their lawn chairs and buckles up for another cold winter with the very warm memories of a great and successful 2009 Summer Concert Series in Juniper Valley Park.