KENNETT SQUARE: "A real celebration" to end the concert season

The final summer concert at Anson B. Nixon Park in  Kennett was a wonderful, memorable evening: the tribute band SOS performed the greatest hits of the rock group Chicago, like "Saturday in the Park," "25 or 6 to Four," "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Old Days," "Mongonucleosis," "Questions 67 and 68," "Beginnings"... the list goes on. They even did everybody's slow-dance favorite, "Color My World," filling the gravel space in front of the stage with romantic couples.
The (large) part of my brain that stores old song lyrics kicked in as if I'd heard the songs just yesterday. I listened to Chicago by the hour when I was in junior high and high school. My "Chicago Transit Authority" double album was so well used that you could see the outline of the records through the sleeve.

Some of the songs that SOS played touched on the turbulent times of the early 1970s: riots, assassinations, hippies, challenging "The Establishment" and hearing news accounts about Vietnam War casualties from the other side of the world. It was more than a little poignant that 40 years later, there I was sitting there in the park surrounded by friend, enjoying delicious Vietnamese pork sandwiches from Portabello's restaurant (the mushroom mac-and-cheese was great, too, but carried no nostalgic associations).
Huge thanks to the organizers and sponsors of this concert series. And finally, for the first time all summer, the guest emcee pronounced "Maffei Landscape Design" correctly when acknowledging the sponsors. I guess it helped that the emcee was Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick, and Dan Maffei is a member of borough council!
I know this is going to sound dreadfully corny, but the summer concerts reflect a genuine sense of community. Walking around at intermission (usually on my way to get ice cream), we'd see friendly people from so many circles in our lives, all there just to hear the music and hang out. It gives me hope for small-town America.