SLIDESHOW: Belmont's Got the Blues

If the sale of food and beverages is any indication of the success of the Belmont Park Boosters Free Concerts in the Park, then this Sunday's event featuring Highwater Blues was a smash.

Park Boosters volunteer knew early on the crowd was ready to eat, drink and dance. "This is a good crowd, we're selling a lot of food early, and even running out of some things,"  he said.

Great weather, hardworking volunteers, dedicated sponsors, happy crowds and the great sound of Highwater Blues contributed to the success of this Belmont summer tradition, now in its 35th season in the Meadow at Twin Pines Park.

The weekly summer concerts, sponsored by the Belmont Park Boosters, and various corporate donors, will wrap up it's 2011 season next week with Tom Rigney & Flambeau.

Skip Dahl, another Booster volunteer, likes to point out that he doesn't even live in Belmont (Foster City...but don't tell them), but enjoys his role as a Booster outlier.

"These are nice people, and they are fun people...how can you not have fun at an event like this?"

This week's sponsor, Recology, helped underwrite the cost of the band, allowing the proceeds from food and beverage and the donations from the crowd to go directly to park improvements.

It didn't take long for the five-piece blues and R&B band to get people up and dancing in the second set. Leading off with Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," everyone from toddlers to Segway riders was on the grassy dance floor.

Sunday's concert chairperson, Lida Paetzke, had just one word for her day as the boss, "Fun."

"The crowd is wonderful, the music delightful and we made some money today," she added.

Lida, like many of the Park Boosters, has been around since the group's inception. "This is our 35th annual Concerts in the Park," Lida proudly points out. "And all the money raised here goes directly back into the community and into the parks."