The St. Louis Place Park Summer Concert Series brought the community together with live music, food trucks, and activities for all ages.
The second Thursday in June has passed, and the St. Louis Place Park Summer Concert Series was a resounding success. The park was brimming with attendees, as food trucks stretched along N. 21st street, and the atmosphere was alive with music, dancing, and laughter. Meanwhile, the younger and older children had their own dedicated space in which to play on the playground equipment and engage in a friendly game of football.
The patrons had their lawn chairs, blankets, coolers filled with snacks and beverages and some people had tents set up that could fit four to eight people. The scorching hot weather didn’t stop these concert-goers from enjoying themselves. The atmosphere was good vibes all night long.
St. Louis Place Park is located on St. Louis Avenue between N. 20th Street and Rauschenbach Avenue. This is an attractive 14.13 acre park that has walking paths throughout, a basketball court, a soccer field, softball fields, a mid-century service building, a spray pool and a playground. These amenities are spread out on the four sections of this big beautiful park.
For entertainment, the legendary band Master’s Touch Soul Cavalcade got a chance to perform, featuring songs of The Dramatics, The O’Jays and Gladys Knight and the Pips. They sang all of the aforementioned hits including the smash hits “Love Train” and “For The Love of Money” by The O’Jays.
Moreover, there were a handful of elected officials who attended the event including Mayor Tishaura Jones who showed off her dance skills by stepping to Tamia’s song “Come Dance With Me”. And while the song played a crowd gathered in front of the stage and started line dancing doing the Tamia Hustle. As the “Tamia Hustle” song played on more and more people joined in including Mayor Jones.
In addition, Sheriff Vernon Betts was also in attendance, whom I had the pleasure of meeting that evening. He is a very likable man who cares deeply about his neighborhood which is the St. Louis Place Park neighborhood located in Ward 14. Sheriff Betts is running for re-election to continue to serve the citizens of St. Louis.
The event was hosted by radio personality The Real J.R. from Foxy 106.9FM. He did an excellent job of keeping the audience informed about local news and upcoming events. J.R. also introduced a couple of other radio personalities whose voices you hear every morning and afternoon. And one of those voices was Mz. Sinita, the Super Producer, who is one of the hosts of The Real Breakfast Crew that airs every weekday morning from 6am to 10 am. The other voice was Tonee Roper, the midday personality from 10am to 3pm, who brings a unique blend of music, energy and humor to make your lunch break a little brighter.
Even though it was a fun night, there was one thing that had a lot of people frustrated, the lack of restrooms. There were only four porta potties to service over one thousand people. Hopefully, the event committee will get this corrected for the next concert event.
During the band’s intermission, Mayor Jones gave a summary about having property taxes frozen if you are a senior citizen and you own your home. A table was set up for people to fill out paper applications to see if they qualify for the property tax freeze. She also talked about how some neighborhoods will be seeing some significant improvements and she doesn’t want people to lose their homes because of delinquent property taxes.
In closing, The Whitaker Foundation Summer Concert Series at St. Louis Place Park is truly a family affair. This concert series is free and open to the public. Affinia Healthcare provided health screenings including A1C, blood pressure and HIV testing.
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