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Show Concert in the Park a Success Because of Dedicated Community Volunteer r ! px ? I : I ; ..i ''"jr. , .J i-v. . J ! L - J-t-'t..--: ri" Jeralyn got her first experience with the Sunday evening performances when she was called in a panic for help, that responsibility has now lasted more than fourteen years. , . , Photo courtesy, of Gen Taylor by Geri Taylor Regular attendees at the Sunday evening Concert in the Park view Jeralyn Merrill as a good friend who makes them feel welcome, and her constant presence seems to assure all, that rain or shine, the show will go on. When the Arts Council was organized in the 1980's, the summer concerts were one of the original programs initiated, with Ida Mae Christiansen as director and Doug Bezzant running run-ning the sound. He soon realized real-ized the need for better equipment equip-ment and after some research, was instrumental in purchasing a state-of-the-art sound system for the city. Although Bezzant didn't continue managing the sound, Ida Mae booked and coordinated co-ordinated the popular concerts for nearly twenty years. With a solid background in music, Jeralyn was a perfect choice to chair the Arts Council Coun-cil and in 1998 she took over the reins, representing the city orchestra as one of her main duties. Shortly after her appointment, ap-pointment, she had her first experience ex-perience with the Sunday evening eve-ning performances when Ida Mae called in a panic that her sound person had quit and asked what she should do. Leadership instincts kicking in, she grabbed her son and said, "you're the new sound person," and off they went to a responsibility that has lasted more than fourteen years. For about eleven years, the Merrill boys shared the task of setting up the sound system during the concert season, and when they announced two years ago they were finished, for the first time Jeralyn had to go outside out-side the family to fill this essential essen-tial job. During this time there have been various upgrades to the equipment, including new microphones, amplifiers and speakers, but the sound board is original and still in good working work-ing condition. When Ida Mae became too ill to line up the concerts six years ago, Jeralyn stepped in and has been running the show ever since. The 30-year tradition tradi-tion has made her duties much easier since local groups know and respond quickly to the concert con-cert announcements that are posted in March. As she first took over, Jeralyn Jera-lyn would use the Utah County Musicians as well as recommendations recommen-dations from friends to find and invite different groups and individuals indi-viduals to perform, but for the past several years, people call her to get on the twelve-week schedule. The goal is to vary up the genres so the audience isn't listening to the same thing each week and with the increased options, the mix between semi-professional, semi-professional, professional, and just-for-fun performers, has supplied the variety she has sought. While there have been few disappointments through the years, Jeralyn remembers the rock band she scheduled and began having second thoughts about. Asking them to play soft rock and tone it down was perhaps per-haps the main reason they never requested to play again. Knowing Know-ing the audience and what they like has kept the roster upbeat and at the same time diverse enough to appeal to all ages. The move from the hill at the old rec center to its present location was one of necessity for the concerts to adequately adequate-ly serve the community. As Pleasant Grove grew, so did the attendance, and with the increased traffic, the venue outgrew the First East site. An attempt to use the park on the West of the Rec Center was quickly abandoned when it was realized the setting sun would affect the performers and the playground was too big of a temptation and distraction. After the new rec center was built, Jeralyn requested a cement pad be poured in the middle of the lawn for the concerts, but the sprinkler system had already been installed, precluding the proposal. For his Eagle project, Calvin and Angie Walker's son, Henson, poured the pad on the northeast corner of the center, which was sadly abandoned due to the evening sun shining in the audience's faces, an occurrence that wasn't discovered until a. number of weeks after the task was completed. The present location lo-cation seems to be a perfect fit for both performers and audience audi-ence alike. With three sons who play multiple instruments, a background back-ground of playing piano, cello and organ for most of her life, and a husband who plays trumpet trum-pet in the Buzztones band, Jeralyn Jera-lyn Merrill can say with authority author-ity that "Concerts in the Park are a great way to introduce families to music." The last concert of the summer is always held the Sunday Sun-day prior to school starting, and this year will feature the home-grown talent of Harold Newman. There is so much more to putting on a successful success-ful concert than just choosing the right group, and Jeralyn has fine-tuned the art of pleasing pleas-ing the crowd. Thanks for a job well done. |