New City Library Summer Concert Energized by Radio Flyer

Weather conditions didn't exactly cooperate with the New City Library's Saturday evening lawn concert, but that couldn't stop the rock 'n' roll.

The concert moved inside and concertgoers packed the library's auditorium to hear  Radio Flyer, a local rock and roll cover band. The group played numerous hits from the 60s and 70s ranging from Jonny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Otis Redding's "The Dock of the Bay" to Van Morrison, the Doobie Brothers and Neil Diamond's classic "Sweet Caroline."

"This is a great way for the community to come together and listen to great music," said the library's Sally Pellegrini, who helped welcome the library visitors - ranging in age from children to senior citizens.

The New City Library has concerts in July and August,  traditionally held on the outside lawn, which functions as a natural amphitheater. This is the sixth year of the concerts.

Among the guests were members of Jawonio of New City, whose recreation counselor Lisa Chaser brought a few residents from her group home to this evening's event.

"I've worked for Jawonio for 12 years and I coordinate activities out of two group homes," Chaser said. "We were going to have dinner at Bear Mountain but ended up at the library due to the poor weather predictions."

Chaser's reasons for attending the event were shared by other guests while a majority of people simply found out and attended by word of mouth.  First timer Roberta Sandler of Oakland, N.J. mentioned that "I've never been here before but I think it's wonderful that the library is able to bring such great 'culture' here."

Joanne Carella, who works in library circulation and assists Pellegrini, spoke of how "I think it's great that the library is willing to do this." When commenting on the large turnout, she summed up the tone of the evening in one phrase: "I think it [the high level of event attendance] means people are grateful during these hard economic times."

Radio Flyer consists of lead singer John Fotos, guitarist Mike Rizzo, bassist Brad Schwartzseid, drummer Mark Schaeffer, and keyboardist Mike Lord. When asked about how the Radio Flyers ended up playing this evening's event, Lord mentioned how he met Pellegrini when doing a coin show at the library and offered to play for this evening's event.

Overall, the evening was a  success and the crowd left smiling - and still humming tunes from the performance.