Plans in Place for Palmer Township Community Weekend

Diane Grube is in her mode.

The organizer of Palmer Township Community Weekend for 16 of its 29 years is already ready to go – even though the annual summer festival is still three months away.

The event takes place Aug. 15-19 at with festivities kicking off at dusk Wednesday with a Movies in the Park showing of "A Dolphin's Tale."

"It's so much fun," Grube said. "It's a lot of hard work. But I just love it. It's such a family-oriented event. People get to see their friends, family and neighbors and relax, eat and talk."

Organizers met Tuesday to go over logistics and plans.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Dave Colver said the meeting went well. "Diane pretty much has it on autopilot," Colver said. "We're all back on the same page. Everything is very smooth. The biggest thing we need to worry about is the weather."

Grube has already set up the agenda for each evening:

THURSDAY NIGHT

• The event kicks off at 6 p.m. with Zumba. Come out and have some fun with the instructors from the Charles Chrin Community Center. At 7 p.m., the Tracy Lee Country Band will entertain the crowd until 10 p.m.
• Thursday night will also be “family night” for the rides. The price of each wrist band will be $10. This wrist band entitles each child to ride certain rides all night at one price. The rock wall, vertical reality and the pony rides are NOT included in this family special. Wrist bands will be available in the ticket booth in the children’s area from 6 to 10 p.m.

 FRIDAY NIGHT

• Friday night begins at 6 p.m. with classic rock music by Anthony Zucchero & Peacekeeper. Anthony was honored at the 2010 Lehigh Valley Music Awards with an award as Best Electric Guitarist in the Lehigh Valley. Peacekeeper was nominated as Best New Band and Best Teen Band in 2010.
• At 8 p.m. the party band Joyous will get the crowd dancing until midnight. 

  ​SATURDAY

• ​At 9 a.m. Saturday the BIP will be sponsoring a 5K run starting at Fairview Park. The proceeds from this run will be donated to the Miracle League. This organization was created solely to build and operate the Miracle League of Northampton County to bring the joy of playing baseball to disabled children and adults. For more information on this event or to register, please go to www.palmer5k.com.
• Following later in the day at 5 p.m. will be the oldies band Inch and The Echos. Bring your dancing shoes and get into the “groove” of this band.
• At 6:30 p.m. there will be a K-9 demonstration by the Palmer, Easton and Wilson police departments in the lower field. 
• Starting at 8 p.m. the Jeff Bellfy band will be on stage until midnight.
• At 10 p.m. there will be an on-site fireworks display.

  SUNDAY

• ​Sunday will start out with a second Family Day for the rides from 3 to 6 p.m. There is a fee of $10 for a wrist band, which entitles the children with the bands to ride certain rides. Wrist bands are on sale in the ticket booth in the children’s area from 3 to 6.
• ​On Sunday afternoon the Easton Area High School Girls Softball team will hold its annual Steak Bake from 4 – 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available from any team member and also will be available at its stand throughout the weekend prior to the Steak Bake. The Bake consists of a ribeye steak, corn on the cob, baked potato and a roll.
• Sunday’s entertainment starts at 3 with Elvis impersonator Jay Allan and a tribute to the artist. Playing from 4 to 6:30 p.m. will be Jay Allan and his band “That’s The Way It Is.”
• The weekend will then wrap up with the local band Truth & Soul entertaining the crowd from 7 to 10 p.m.​

There will be pony rides for the children throughout the event as well as a rock wall and other challenging activities for older children. Tethered balloon rides also will be featured. The balloon rises 75 feet above the park and is a great way to see everything below.