Cobleskill Partnership Inc. is thinking about summer, even though winter hasn’t quite surrendered.
Meeting Friday, members of the downtown advocacy group planned Arts in the Park, the annual free concert series in Veterans’ Memorial Centre Park.
CPI President Lucas Fiedler said he’s had interest from seven bands, although Arts in the Park usually consists of just four concerts.
Board member Jim Poole suggested adding a fifth date, and others agreed. Arts in the Park will start July 7 and run every Thursday to the first week in August.
Vendors will also be at the concerts, and board members will encourage the public to come early and enjoy what the vendors have to offer.
On a related issue, board member Anna Marie Collins wondered about having a band play on the porch of Scholet Furniture and see whether traffic could be stopped along Route 7––Main Street––for a block party.
The state Department of Transportation resisted blocking Main Street in the past, but Mr. Poole pointed out that in the pre-COVID years, Worcester barricaded Route 7 for a block party every August.
Others at Friday’s meeting also noted that Cobleskill’s Main Street is blocked off for every parade. Board members will talk with Mayor Becky Terk to see how to proceed.
In other business Friday:
•Mr. Fiedler said he got an estimate of $5,047 to put a fountain in the park’s pond. Others thought the price was high and wondered about maintenance and permission from village officials.
•Mary Sagendorf of the Bull’s Head Inn reported that CPI’s Restaurant Week, in which restaurants offered special meals, “had a phenomenal turnout.”
•Members discussed a downtown clean-up day and agreed that SUNY Cobleskill students will work in the park next Friday, the 29th, before the Maple Festival and Wildlife Festival, and CPI members will hold a clean-up in early May.