We are so excited to begin a brand new season of the Golden Belt Community Concert Association. Our membership campaign last spring resulted in the addition of more than 300 new members. That’s great news because it means so many more people will be enjoying our concerts this season.
Our new season comes with one important change. Beginning with our first concert on Saturday, Sept. 16, all concerts will start at 7 p.m. (instead of 7:30). The doors will open at 6:15 p.m. With the earlier time, members won’t have to drive as long after dark and parents won’t need to leave the concert early to have their children home by bedtime.
With the success of our membership campaign, we now have 1,500 members, and that number reaches our maximum seating capacity for the auditorium. Of course, our members do not all come at once, but we also have to consider that we are reciprocal with three other Community Concert Associations, meaning those members can come to our concerts as well as their own.
That being said, we are now unable to accept additional members for this new season.
However, as in the past, we allow our members – at times when they are not able to attend a concert – to loan their tickets to non-members, and many of our volunteer workers have “earned tickets” that can be loaned to non-members for a particular concert. It’s a way for us to show others what our concerts are all about and perhaps they will decide to join our association in the future.
We’re excited to be presenting seven concerts this season. In contrast with our last season that began in October, we start this season a month earlier with two concerts in September. Despite the early beginning, members will be happy to know we put the membership tickets in the mail on Sept. 7, and we have faith that all of our members will receive their tickets before the first concert.
If any members are not blessed to find tickets in their mailbox before the event, you need not worry. We have you on our list. Just come to the concert and we’ll work out the details when you arrive.
We’re happy to have a great variety of concerts. Our first one, Phat Cat Swinger, is a swing band playing USO dance music from the 1940s, Disney classics, and Sinatra to Bublé. This 11-member group, singing and playing a multitude of instruments, gives new meaning to the word “swing” with their rock-star energy. They could have people dancing in the aisles.
We were fortunate to host the Great Bend Chamber Coffee on Sept. 7, celebrating our association’s 85th anniversary as well as our substantial growth in membership.
Our new season will again have travel opportunities through our GBCCA Travel Benefit provided by Cheyenne Travel/Please Go Away Vacations, which offers special travel savings for all of our members and even members of their travel group who are not GBCCA members. We will name our “feature” trips in the next Concert Curiosities. Members not only receive special savings on our GBCCA “feature” tours, but also on all other travel destinations they choose through Please Go Away Vacations. Our Golden Belt Association also receives an amount equal to the travel savings of our members and their guests.
Linda Jerke is second vice president and publicity chair of the Golden Belt Community Concert Association. She was a Localife editor of the Great Bend Tribune for 22 years, then worked as a communications specialist in the Office of College Communications at Barton Community College for 17 years before her retirement in 2011. Contact her by calling 620-793-2748 or email,lindajerke@gmail.com.
