To help celebrate the 15th anniversary of its popular Summer Concert Series the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce awarded the 60,000th attendee a stay and play package worth more than $300 last week.

Pete Gallant, of Arundel, was the lucky winner and earned a hotel stay, a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant, beach passes and concert freebies just for showing up to the concert at Memorial Park on July 23, which featured the Carmine Terraciano Band.

The last concert of the season will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, when The Awesome Band, which plays hits of the 1980s, will round out this year’s series.

Art Dillon, the chamber’s vice president, said this week, “I’ve been working on the Summer Concert Series for 10 years now, since it moved from the library to Memorial Park and I’m extremely proud of how it’s evolved since then.”

He added, “We’ve had a great season so far,” and said the chamber is happy to sponsor the concert series, which “gives back to our community, helps to brand the chamber and raises money for scholarships and for other small chamber events throughout the year.”

Originally, Dillon said, the concert series was a four-week event that took place on the lawn at the Scarborough Public Library. Since then, it’s evolved into a six-week series that draws between 6,000 and 9,000 people a year to enjoy an evening concert at the gazebo in Memorial Park.

In addition to the concert series, Dillon said the chamber advocates for and promotes business, sponsors a candidates night each fall, holds periodic meet-your-representatives gatherings and helps with heating fuel assistance drives and at school and athletic events.

He said since the concert series draws thousands of people each year, it gives area businesses a chance to reach a diverse potential customer base by being a sponsor or advertiser for the concerts.

Overall, Dillon said, the chamber’s goals are to make the concert series a “signature event,” as well as one that raises money for scholarships and “provides an enjoyable, family-friendly event at no cost. We also want attendees to enjoy themselves and tell their friends they had a good time and that they should come to the next show.”

He said that while many great bands have played at the concert series during the past 15 years, the one show that sticks out the most is the Motor Booty Affair show five years ago.

“In connection with the show, I was able to plan a surprise birthday party for my mother who turned 70,” Dillon said. “I was able to have 40 family members, mostly from the New York and Connecticut area, plus many friends show up at the park.

“As an added bonus I dressed up for the part of the band manager and after we were dropped off at the stage by a police-escorted stretch limo, I met up with my mom and family. That particular show was a picture-perfect day, in the low 70s, mostly sunny with around 3,000 in attendance.”

Dillon said when it comes to choosing bands to play the concert series, “I keep my ear to the wall, plus getting recommendations and phone and email requests from bands asking to be in the series.”

Each fall, he said, the chamber’s concert committee recaps the season and reviews any new prospects, and at least one member of the committee will try to see a prospective band live, if possible.

The committee then reconvenes in late October to talk about which bands and variety of music to choose.

“Then we will begin contacting bands for specific dates. We try to mix it up a little year to year, but there are those popular bands, like Motor Booty Affair, that are so popular and fun, you would be crazy not to have them back,” Dillon said.

See www.scarboroughcommunitychamber.com for more information about the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce.

Every year thousands of people attend the Summer Concert Series at Memorial Park in Scarborough, which is sponsored by the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce. Courtesy photo