The Krugers Brothers kick off the Max & Emily's Summer Concert Series
Families and community members danced downtown as the Max & Emily's Summer Concert Series kicked off with a performance by The Kruger Brothers.
The Max & Emily's Summer Concert Series includes a concert held each month that is open to the community. The event started as a vision of owner Tim Brockman and General Manager Chris "Elmo" Walton to promote free family fun during the economic fall in 2008.
The bluegrass hall-of-famers played a concert downtown last year as part of the Summer Concert Series line up. This year, the band drove up from their home in North Carolina to perform for one night in Mount Pleasant.
"The Kruger Brothers are a crowd favorite. Last year, they stayed at the concert after the show and had a lot of fun with the community," Walton said. "When they performed, the audience's reaction was 'We've never seen a banjo worked like that.' This year the band (drove) 11 hours to perform for us because they loved the atmosphere last year."
In 2008, Max & Emily's first summer concert attracted 750 audience members. This year the crowd is expected to be made up of 1,800 community members.
Among the audience was Alexa Saxtonbush, a Central Michigan University junior from Traverse City. Saxtonbush said this wasn't her first time attending the concert series.
"I came here today with my friend Sam who works at Max and Emily's," Saxtonbush said. "I really like live music. The guy on the banjo is pretty awesome."
While most of the audience was seated listening to The Kruger Brothers, children were dancing in the streets to bring the music to life. Roberta Clark, a 72-year-old community member, said she stumbled upon the concert on her walk to Island Park.
"I heard the music and wanted to see where it was coming from," Clark said. "This concert is fabulous, this is what summer should feel like. People gathering together like this to enjoy music which is therapeutic. It's always fun to see the younger kids enjoying themselves like this."
On the line up for the rest of the summer is Channing and Quinn, who will perform at 7 p.m. July 30, and Jeff Daniels and the Ben Daniels Band, who will perform at 7 p.m. August 29.
"Our philosophy with this concert series has stayed the same," Walton said "It is to always give back when we can. This free concert allows everyone to be a part of it at no cost."
