Georgetown Concludes Concerts in the Park in Style

You better believe Georgetown celebrates the Fourth of July.

On the afternoon before celebratory fireworks again lit the monuments of our capital, the denizens of its oldest neighborhood gathered at Volta Park for a little music, a little picnicking and a little time to soak in what would prove to be a model summer day.

That event, of course, was Concerts in the Park, the last installment of CAG’s three-month series armed with a simple formula: bring a band and a few tasty treats to the park, and they will come. It was enough to lure around 100 neighbors, which wasn’t a bad turnout for a holiday weekend, CAG President Jennifer Altemus said.

Co-chaired by Elizabeth Miller and Renee Crupi, the concert series’ afternoon finale kicked off with a parade around Volta Park before transitioning to a lively festival, the kind where everyone’s on a first-name basis and the music is good, no matter who’s playing (for the record, it was reggae-esque rockers Son of a Beach).

Volunteers passed out plush linen towels from Cady’s Alley décor shop Waterworks, along with a few raffle tickets for a facial care package from local doctor Mark Venturi. Most of the youngsters, parents in tow, haunted the activity booths, ranging from cookie and flag decorating to a water balloon toss to the time-honored estimation station (kudos to Edwin Steiner for his correct guess of 4118 M&Ms). Others simply lounged on their blankets, chatting with adjacent picnickers and soaking up the expiring daylight. Miller and a few committee members manned the ice cream stand, scooping up cones here and there for any passerby with a free hand.

Elsewhere, Georgetowners tested their mettle at a lineup of good-old-fashioned, county fair-like contests. A tug-of-war match pitted East Georgetown against West (this year, the East villagers came out on top), and a long table clothed in blue plaid served as battleground for a pie-eating contest, in which a handful of boys, their braggadocio notwithstanding, gave up the ghost to eight-year-old Emma Robinson, who apparently can chow down with the best of them.

It was, as you so rarely see in the city, a family affair. Kids and adults came and went, some rushing off for fireworks, others mingling with friends, carefree as summer.

Most of all, it was an instance of Georgetown as it should be — an aggregate of neighbors and loved ones, joined as one community.