The Perry-area concert-going crowd eased into the first 2019 Friday Fest, with about 50 present for the opening songs and the numbers gradually growing through the course of the evening.
The musical guest was the South of Society band, playing cover songs in a range of genres and styles, including numbers by the Allman Brothers Band, Johnny Cash, John Mayer and Bob Seger and the J. J. Cale classic, “Call Me the Breeze.”
They call me the breeze.
I keep blowing down the road.
They call me the breeze.
I keep blowing down the road.
I ain’t got me nobody.
I ain’t carrying me no load.
The Perry Firefighters Association cornered the market in food vending, serving barbecued meats with chips and soft drinks. Dinner King Doug Wood, recording the event in his capacity as a volunteer for Pegasus, Perry’s local-access cable channel, was seen choosing a pork or beef plate and a soft beverage.
The Perry Sesquicentennial is one month away, and plans are in place for a big three-day celebration following the Fourth of July. Sesquicentennial Committee volunteer Brian Eiteman sold t-shirts and commemorative coins at the Friday Fest, a fundraising effort supporting the historical landmark celebration.
The annual Friday Fests are organized and sponsored by the Perry-Area Chamber of Commerce. Other sponsors of the first 2019 Friday Fest were Affordable Quality Roofing and Exteriors, Backwards Boutique, Bernie Lowe and Associates Inc., Bolton and Menk, Fareway, Gatehouse Media, ITC, Percival Scientific, Raccoon River Valley Bicycle and Outfitters, Raccoon Valley Bank, Tyson Fresh Meats and Wells Fargo.
