City Council approve Summer Serenades and Samplers 2006

The Rising Sun City Council last night approved a grant to the Rising Sun - Ohio County Chamber of Commerce for production of “Summer Serenades and Samplers 2006”

The Summer Serenades and Samplers program is a season-long series of concerts and events in downtown Rising Sun, Indiana designed to encourage weekend traffic into the downtown area or a regular basis. The City and the Chamber provided funds to have this event in June and July of 2005 and the Chamber hopes to bring a full series of events back downtown this summer. The events will begin on June 3 and continue each week up until the Navy Bean Festival in October.

This series is being coordinated this year with the Historic Downtown Program and the Ohio County Tourism Bureau to maximize the viability of the promotion. In 2005, the events were run independently by the Downtown Merchants Association. While this group is no longer in existence; a large number of its remaining participants have merged into the Chamber and the Historic Downtown Program.

We will be utilizing local musicians and bands for the entertainment. Most events will be relatively low cost with a few larger groups spread throughout the series. Most events will be held at the riverfront with a few others held in the downtown area (sidewalks, gazebo, indoor facilities when needed for rain dates or other reasons)

In conjunction with the series, each week will feature samples of food from area restaurants, vendors, and non-profit organizations (for example: BBQ, Chili cookoff, etc.) These items are to be sponsored as donations by the individual businesses or sold by the non-profits.

The closing of Main Street is not anticipated this year for these events. There may be tables and chairs placed at the pavilion or on the sidewalks.

Council also approved the Chamber's request for a part-time summer employee (College Student) to coordinate and run the summer event program.

The Chamber is also seeking business sponsors, non-profit groups, volunteers and others who are interested in becoming a part of this exciting series. For more information please contact the Chamber at 438-3130.