Entertainment to grace downtown

Walter L. Sprague
NLJ Arts & Culture Reporter
 
For the last several years Newcastle has been privileged to have Warm Summer Nights, evenings of concert and fun in the downtown streets. This year there will be three concert events, each held on Friday nights beginning at 5:30 p.m. They will be on June 21, with the Larry Roetzel and Cambria String Band, July 19 with Sherry Taylor and Lazy L Band, and Aug. 23 with the Nate Smith and Caddywhompus Band. These bands will be playing at the parking lot of First State Bank of Newcastle across South Sumner Avenue from the library. 
The sponsors of the event are Weston County Arts Council, Weston County Travel Commission, First State Bank of Newcastle, and News Letter Journal. RT Communications and 21 Electric will also be sponsors for the Aug. 23 event. 
The events will start at 5:30 p.m. and go until 9 p.m. with street closures at 5. The areas to be closed to vehicle traffic are West Main Street from South Sumner Avenue to South Seneca Avenue, with South Sumner closed from West Main to West Warwick Street. 
This year, along with the concerts, there will be a tent where ice cream and cotton candy can be purchased, along with games to enjoy. During these three events, open containers will be allowed within the event area. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and settle in for some good music and fun times. 
Of particular note, there will be two raffles that will be held later in the summer. The tickets will be $10 for each raffle. The items being raffled are a beautiful custom hatchet and knife set, each with a leather sheath, crafted by the talented knife smith, Rusty Speidel of Sundance, Wyo. The other raffle will be for one of a variety (winner gets to choose) of Winchester rifles, each with a scope, a hard case, and shoulder strap. There are only 200 tickets for each raffle, so get them before they run out. The raffle tickets are for purchase at the events, but can also be obtained directly from Arts Council board members. The winner of the raffle does not need to be present to win.