End a fun-filled summer with warm summer nights

Walter Sprague
Art and Culture Reporter
 
On Friday, Aug. 23, the last concert for the year in the Warm Summer Nights series will grace downtown Newcastle. The stage will be set up in the parking lot of First State Bank of Newcastle across South Sumner Avenue from the Weston County Library. Bring your lawn chairs and cold drinks and settle down for an evening of fun, dance and good music.
 The featured performer will be Nate Smith and Caddywhompus Band, a local band who also performed at the Fourth at the Four Way. They will start playing at 6:30 p.m. and go until 9 p.m. Dwayne Stanton will warm up the crowd up from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
 Street closures to vehicle traffic will begin at 5 p.m. The streets to be closed will be West Main from South Sumner to South Seneca, with South Sumner closed from West Main to West Warwick.
 The sponsors of the event are Weston County Arts Council, Weston County Travel Commission, First State Bank of Newcastle, the News Letter Journal, RT Communications and 21 Electric.
 Food and drink will be available for a small price at the arts council tent, which will also be set up in the bank parking lot. Items for sale will be ice cream, cotton candy, pizza and water. Of particular note at this concert will be unique flavors of all-natural snow cones, according to Tom Voss of the arts council, as well as a special surprise dish prepared by Jasmine Frank. Games will also be available for the children to enjoy. The City Council has approved open containers for the duration of the event. You are asked to please drink and drive responsibly.
The gun and hatchet/knife raffles are still going on, but tickets are fast selling out. The tickets are $10 for each raffle. The items to be raffled are a beautiful custom hatchet and knife set, each with a handmade leather sheath. The talented knife smith, Rusty Speidel, of Sundance, handcrafted these blades. The other raffle will be for one of a variety (winner gets to choose) of Winchester rifles, each equipped with a scope and shoulder strap and a hard case. The drawing will take place during the concert, so get your raffle tickets early for a chance to win. You can also pick up tickets from any of the arts council board members. The winners do not need to be present to win.