Symphony’s Big Band coming to Sensory Park

By Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquirer

The Owensboro Symphony’s 2nd Street Big Band will perform a free concert — Big Band Glow in the Park Party — Saturday night at the Wendell Foster Sensory Park, 815 Triplett St.

“Wendell Foster is a special place and this free community concert in Sensory Park is great opportunity to spend the evening with friends and family in an amazing outdoor setting,” Sara Macke Jackson, the symphony’s director of marketing, said recently.

The band will have 20 instrumentalists and two vocalists performing, she said.
 
 “You’ll hear a little bit of everything from big band standards like Glenn Miller to hits from today like Bruno Mars,” Jackson said.

“This is our third event with the Big Band,” Jeff Hagan, Wendell Foster’s director of marketing and public relations, said. “Last year, there was a conflict and we had to cancel it. But we had it the two years before that.”

He said Wendell Foster has tried the event at different times of the year in the past.

“We’re trying to find a more consistent time of the year,” he said.

The evening begins at 6:30 with a picnic in the park.

Pulled pork sandwiches with chips and a drink for available for $5.

Food sales will help fund Wendell Foster’s autism program, Hagan said.

“But this isn’t really a money-making thing,” he said.

The Sensory Park opened in 2010, but Hagan said a lot of people still haven’t seen it.

The $1.3 million park was designed to provide stimulation for people with autism and to be accessible to people with disabilities.

“I really had no idea what the grounds here looked like until I started working here.” Hagan said. “The Sensory Park is a good area for this concert. We want to create community awareness and to thank the community for 70 years of support.”