It is with a heavy heart that the Power of Music folks, a non-profit group of people that shared a common dream of "lifting" the community through free summer concerts, will not be moving forward with a 2019 Summer Music Festival. The demands on our committee have become too overwhelming and financially unbearable for our committee. As a self-formed body of concerned people, we fought to overcome obstacle after obstacle to provide high-quality entertainment through professional musicians and free to all who wanted to attend our events. Our efforts were well received by some townsfolk and created many wonderful memories for those who attended.
We would like to share the responsibilities that the few members of the POM committee encounter yearly and the recent "obstacles" that we presently face and possibly could have been avoided or at least eased to help promote our endeavor. The Power of Music was formed 6 years ago and witnessed successful summer festivals each year. The venue for concerts was relocated to the Brownsville Cast Iron Amphitheater in 2017 and the POM committee had the following major challenges to overcome:
- Determine the number of concerts to hold each summer; contact our selected list of local bands to perform and coordinate dates with band leaders for performances. We initially planned to conduct 6 concerts this summer which would mean we could only select 6 bands out of 12 on our list and the same obstacles face us regardless of the number of events we hold. POM pays annual Broadcasting Music Inc. (BMI) fees and submits quarterly reports in order to legally book bands.
- Our major challenge was to raise money to pay our bands whom for years agreed to perform for a menial fee which is greatly appreciated by POM chair and co-chair because these bands are very talented local musicians whom enjoy entertaining the public. None the less, POM had to raise over $4,000 annually to pay these bands. We had to rely upon begging for donations, conduct auctions, tip boards and half the take to accomplish this mission with a few volunteers. The following is what we had to work with for 13 concerts held in 2018:
- Donations = $1,782 raised by a few POM volunteers. Extreme gratitude sent to those organizations and individuals who donated.
- Average money raised per concert from Half the Take = $124
- Average money raised per concert from Chinese auctions = $83
- Average money raised per concert from tip boards = $40
- Money available from 2017 POM bank account = $ 1,500
- Average attendance per concert = 105 people. Despite offering FREE concerts, it seems that POM support was direly low and considered unappreciated by organizations and the community based on attendance. Our POM mission was to "to bring the community together through music".
- Total cost for 13 concerts in 2018 = $5, 900 (it took a miracle to pull this off). We had to rely upon vendor and individual donations for Chinese auction baskets and POM often ended up purchasing items and making these baskets themselves. We had to rely upon vendor and individual donations for Chinese auction baskets and POM often ended up purchasing items and making these baskets themselves.
- Many concert attendees were reluctant to purchase half the take tickets.
POM faced too many impediments when we relocated to the Cast Iron Amphitheater as noted below:
- We had to purchase tents and endured too much difficulty trying to get assistance in erecting and taking down tents. Asking attendees to bring a chair and/or umbrella also was a hardship since there is no seating available in the park area. We much appreciated the borough's donation of several tents, however for the entire time we were in Brownsville, except for the last two weeks at the end of our 2018 season, the same few members were required to erect and tear down more than 15 tents. This was and continues to be a hardship for our few volunteers (mainly women) who are getting up in age and some have health issues.
- With no on-site bathroom facilities present at the amphitheater, POM paid over $500 for a porta john (which was vandalized twice).
- POM co-chair had to weekly solicit and coordinate with food and beverage vendors which is very time consuming and at times resulted in vendor's no show. We did not charge vendors to set up; hence no profit for POM. On several occasions POM had to purchase pizza or chicken to sell at events. We could not get a license nor afford such to sell beer during our events.
We appreciate the borough allowing us to use the stage without a charge, but the additional expense of liability insurance is a major obstacle along with providing a porta john for the public and will continue to be financially overwhelming for POM. We also extend our gratitude to the California Gun Club who provided us an indoor concert venue during inclement weather.
Unless someone comes up with a feasible solution to our predicament to resolve the above listed obstacles, POM has no other choice but to cease conducting summer concerts. The Power of Music committee wish Brownsville the best of luck in its endeavor to make the amphitheater a viable asset for the community. While the stage has great merit, some of the impediments should be dealt with to assist organizations that wish to use it and all requirements should be the same for everyone who uses this venue. We extend our deepest thanks to all the local businesses and patrons who supported POM, gave donations, participated as vendors and attended the concerts throughout the years. A special thanks to the bands who worked with us and provided awesome entertainment during our annual summer music festivals. We will miss all of you. God Bless!
Sincerely,
Lenora Byrd: POM Chair & Annette Buffer: POM Co-Chair
POM committee members: SueAnne Antonucci, Joanne Rode, Ann Trynock, Peggy Quail, Bernadette & Clyde Vandiver, Jerry Abbott & Yvonne, Suzanne Lawver, Beth Storey, Nancy Komacek and Connie Gore (Thank you for your devoted support!)
