Lake concert moves inside
Staff writer
The threat of late afternoon storms that never materialized Saturday sent the outdoor bluegrass concert at Marion County Park and Lake indoors, causing confusion as people arrived to find the waterfront stage and hillside deserted.
“I thought it sounded like fun, music at the lake,” Lana Morris of Salina said. Morris’ family arrived early, but like many didn’t know the concert had been moved to the lake hall.
“No wonder nobody’s here. It’s very disappointing,” Morris said.
Lake superintendent Steve Hudson said the call to move the concert was made early in the day.
“About 10 a.m. we were hearing the forecast was 60 percent chance at 5 p.m. for rain,” Hudson said. “I made the decision to pull it into the lake hall to be safe.”
The sky was partly cloudy, temperature moderate, and a light breeze blew as Miller’s Mule Band of Newton played its opening set inside.
“We were hoping the weatherman would be right, but unfortunately he was wrong,” Hudson said.
While some chose to leave, others like Steve Schmidt of McPherson were there for bluegrass wherever it was played.
“We set up our chairs over there, and some folks said they moved it inside, so we’re moving inside. It’ll be fine,” Schmidt said.
Hudson said attendance was good, and that the event promotes interest in the lake.
“We’ve had a lot of first-timers come out. Since I’ve been here this weekend is the first time we’re at 99.9 percent full as far as camping at the sites with hook-ups goes,” Hudson said. “That’s pretty big for us out here without being a holiday weekend.”