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Community Corner

Concert Series Brings Business Boon

The Smithtown Library's summer concerts have earned the support – financial and otherwise – of the community.

At Buona Sera, a pizzeria and restaurant on East Main Street, Thursday nights in July and August have become a cause for cheer.

Business swells by "about 15 percent," estimates manager Neil Russo. "We look forward to it in the summertime."

Responsible for the weekly increase, no doubt, are the festivities echoing from the Smithtown Library one block away. The sixth installment of its annual Family Summer Concert Series is underway, with performances ranging from swing to Motown to a Billy Joel tribute band.

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A typical Series performance draws about 2,500 concertgoers – each equipped with their own lawn chairs and blankets, each heeding the library brochure's message to "plan on arriving early." At the Aug. 5 concert, two-thirds of the 2,600 attendees showed up 45 minutes early, chatting, snacking and visiting ice cream and WALK 97.5 booths as the sky grew dark. Many contributed to a 50/50 raffle that raised $528 for the Library. "A Norman Rockwell setting," Suffolk County Legislator Lynne Nowick (R–Smithtown) described it.

Boosting local business has been an unambiguous goal of the Series from its inception. The idea was hatched and developed in 2005 by Library officials and Nowick's music-connected brother Dennis Cannataro and was financed by a 501(c) "downtown revitalization grant" that Nowick secured from the Legislature. At the start of every concert, Nowick takes the microphone and invites visitors to "spend [their] money" at local eateries. She and Otis Thornhill, president of the Friends of the Smithtown Library, say they still receive thank-yous from area businesses.

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Of course, a concert series brings other, less tangible benefits to the community. The Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and Beatles performances draw enormous crowds. Rosemary Maglio and Laura Ambrosio, out-of-town attendees of the Aug. 5 Streetfighter (or Rolling Stones) concert, said that patients in their Smithtown dental office implored them to attend. Peter Stein, an attorney next door who was working late in 2006 and was suddenly startled by blasting music, now hosts a tailgate on his premises every Thursday evening. "I see people in court, and I ask them to come," he says.

Library project coordinator Dave Berner reports that visitors from Illinois, Texas, Arizona, California, England and Germany are among those he's come across at past concerts. Around 20,000 people listen to music on the Library lawn each year, and the number is growing.

"This has become almost the thing to do in the summer," says Anthony Monteleone, vice president of the Library board. "I don't think there's a single event in Smithtown that draws the crowds that we have."

"Despite all the economic problems, it is a way to give people something to look forward to," Nowick says.

"Little old sleepy Smithtown," quips Monteleone, looking out and beaming at an enthusiastic audience.

Yes, the organizers are proud of their creation, mostly because they enjoy the concerts so much themselves. (Nowick, for one, makes a habit of getting up and dancing near the front of the audience.) They've also seen their idea grow from a three-concert, two-movie affair in 2005 to an eight-concert behemoth in 2010. Two events are left this year: an oldies show by the band Risky Business (Aug. 12), and the celebrated Beatles act of the group Strawberry Fields (Aug. 19).

Perhaps what most impresses the organizers is that the Series draws people – namely young ones – who might not normally patronize the inside of the large, book-filled building behind the stage.

"This is not exactly an intellectual [exercise]," Nowick explained on Aug. 5. "This is better. This is the Stones."

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