The music is back

By Laurie Gordon It's been a while since there were concerts at Paulinskill Lake. So when Brian McLoughlin on Saturday, Aug. 17, sang Don McLean's 'American Pie, the lyrics rang especially true. The return of concerts to the area was the brainchild of Kim and Dave Williams, when they took the lead in community entertainment in January.

“We don't get a lot of money for entertainment, but I'm really good at budgeting,” Kim Williams said.She made sure the amount to hire McLoughlin was set aside well in advance, and put signs around the community to let folks know about the concert. Three teams went to the beach early to assemble picnic tables which will now be staples at both Beach One and Beach Two.

“We want to encourage people to picnic and take advantage of our lovely lake and area,” Williams said. Vince Troiano had been working on his roof all day but took time out, still in his work clothes, to see if any other help was needed.

“It's that kind of community here,” Williams said. “This was a great chance for people to socialize and just hang out and enjoy some great music.”

Mary Youngblood arrived early for a spot in the shade close to the singer. “It's about time we did something like this in our community,” she said.

Kathy and Doug Modrow celebrated their wedding anniversary at the concert. “We're glad the community is doing something like this,” Doug Modrow said.

In keeping with the theme, McLoughlin played lots of favorites and an original about a local man named “Waving Willy” who used to sit on the side of Route 206 and wave to passersby. The crowd remembered Willy, and the song received great applause.