Enjoy music, entertainment at midsummer celebration
In the movies, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney would invariably turn to one another and say “Let’s put on a show!” And just as invariably, it would come off instantly and without a hitch.
That was the movies.
In real life, the timetable is extended. By months. And months.
Which makes the fact that Pastor Steve Farnworth and the Living Water Community Church have put together a midsummer celebration at Liberty Lake’s Pavillion Park in just 10 weeks.
That celebration begins Sunday at 10 a.m., with nonstop entertainment until 4 p.m.
“It grew out of conversations with other members of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce,” Farnworth said. “We were talking about some of the nonprofits in our area and how they could use a moral boost and a financial boost. One thing led to another and I went to the board of my church.”
The board got excited and started the ball rolling.
“We decided we would throw a party, see if anyone would come and see if we could raise money for Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity,” he said.
Five different bands, including Patria, a gospel quartet from Tacoma, and Christian rappers Waslyk and C.A.T., will perform, with different acts filling in while each band sets up.
“You know how, at a concert, there’s always that down time between acts,” Farnworth asked. “We’re going to fill that time so that there will be nonstop entertainment. In that time, we’re going to have a local ventriloquist/illusionist who will put on three different shows in that time. And then we have a group called Kickin’ Fun Karate, a youth karate club, and they’re going to put on a couple demonstrations as well. Between every band there will be a 15- or 20-minute stage show.”
Area businesses donated food, which the Liberty Lake Kiwanis will serve at a concession stand. There will be a carnival run by the Spokane Valley Kiwanis with prizes, games and face painting for the kids.
In other words, a fun time is available for all.
“Everything has been donated, so that everything we raise will go toward helping those two nonprofit charities,” Farnworth said.
The event, the pastor stressed, is not designed as merely a Liberty Lake function, although the park is an ideal setting for just such a celebration.
“This really crosses the borders in the Valley,” he said. “This is about the whole Valley community.”
The experience of pulling together a major event such as this in such a short time has been an experience.
“It’s the first time we’ve done something like this,” Farnworth laughed. “And I told someone the other day that if it’s a bust, this could be the first and only.”
Don’t bet on it being the last.