Corner Concert series kicks off with Cloud 9
By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
The Corner Concert Series in Clearfield has been going strong for close to 15 years. The concerts happen on Friday nights in the summer, and the season will start this year on June 5 with Cloud 9 playing in Lower Witmer Park.
Steve Albert, a volunteer who organizes the Corner Concert Series since the beginning in either 2012 or 2013, said it started on a little street corner in Clearfield.
The idea of concerts every Friday night came when Clearfield’s Ritz Theater needed to upgrade to a digital system, with the proceeds being split between various bands and the theater.
“The town kind of rallied around it, and everyone did a little bit and helped get it up,” Albert said.
What turned out as an idea for one summer to raise money for the town’s movie theater turned out to be a project going on for more than a decade for Albert, who owns BioGraphics in Clearfield. The only thing that changes is the nonprofit organizations that proceeds are donated for the year.
“We were just going to do it one summer, and it got to be so popular we just decided to keep doing it every summer,” Albert said.
This year, the proceeds will benefit the youth mentorship program at Children’s Aid Society in Clearfield.
The following is the band schedule for this summer. All concerts are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.:
• June 5 – Cloud 9
• June 12 – Riverfront Festival
• June 19 – Voorhees Blues Band
• June 26 – Nis-n-Nat
• July 3 – Twin Reverb
• July 10 – Megan McGarry
• July 17 – Locked In (Grove stage at the fair)
• July 24 – Spencer Graham
• July 31 – Heather Olson & The Silver Bullet Band
• August 7 – Temptation Alley
• August 14 – Over the Influence
• August 21 – RHODES
• August 28 – Somerville
• Sept. 4 – Lloyd Gray
• Sept. 11 – 3 of M
The nonprofit organizations that have been benefited by the Corner Concert Series in the past are all in Clearfield County. Last year’s concerts benefited the Freedom House in Osceola Mills. The Freedom House is a residence for women that are out of incarceration and rejoining their communities.
“We try to keep it Clearfield County,” Albert said. “Usually we try to do smaller or startup non-profits, ones that are trying to get off the ground. Things that a lot of people aren’t aware of yet.”
Albert said the most the concert series has raised in one summer was just under $5,000 dollars, but averages around $3,000 to $4,000 dollars.
Albert said the concerts on Friday nights are very community-oriented and very family-friendly.
“It’s a real easy-going, casual event,” Albert said. “People kind of plan their whole week to come to the Friday night event. We get a lot of the same people every week. Everyone kind of gets to know each other.”
For more information, visit the Corner Concert Series on Facebook.