BELVIDERE, NJ (Warren County) – Warren County will look forward to its bicentennial just a few years away with a look back to the county’s centennial era in the Roaring Twenties with a free, outdoor concert on Thursday, September 1 in the town square in front of the Warren County Courthouse in Belvidere.
The 5:30 p.m. concert will feature Drew Nugent and The Midnight Society, a “hot jazz” combo based in Philadelphia, PA. The five-piece combo, featuring Skip Rohrich on drums, Gary Cattley on tuba, Brennen Ernst on guitar, and Joe McDonough on trombone, is led by Drew Nugent on cornet, vocals, teapot and melodica. The group is no stranger to Warren County, having played several times as part of the Shippen Manor Summer Lawn Concerts series.
Attendees should bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread out on the grass and enjoy the concert in the park, which was created in 1825 when Belvidere became the county seat.
United Presbyterian Church in Belvidere, located just across from Garret D. Wall Park at 224 Mansfield Street, will serve as the concert location in case of rain and will provide rest rooms for concert attendees. Also, church members will be selling refreshments during the concert.
“All are welcome to attend this free concert in Garret D. Wall Park,” Warren County Commission Director Jason J. Sarnoski said as he announced the concert at the Board of County Commissioners meeting today.
“Warren County’s 200th birthday will be here before you know it, and we want residents to know they can get involved in planning the party,” said Laurie Rapisardi, who chairs the Warren County Bicentennial Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board, a panel created by the county commissioners to oversee efforts to mark the anniversary.
A special invitation is being extended to all of the local historical societies in Warren County to attend the concert and bring tabletop displays about their areas if they would like.
Warren County came into existence in 1825 when an act of the New Jersey Legislature, passed on Nov. 20, 1824, took effect and separated the area from Sussex County.
Sarnoski said the bicentennial advisory board, the county Land Preservation Department’s Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, and the Explore Warren County Tourism Partnership run by the county Public Information Department are teaming up to present the concert.
Several initiatives to mark the County’s bicentennial celebration, which will begin in 2024 and continue through 2025, will be announced at the concert, according to Land Preservation Director Corey Tierney.
“The concert is intended as a fun way to get residents thinking about the upcoming bicentennial and to get the celebration underway,” said county Public Information Officer and Explore Warren Director Art Charlton.
“As we look forward to the bicentennial celebration in 2024 and 2025, we’ll start with a look back to the centennial in the mid-1920s,” Charlton said. “Music from the Roaring Twenties is a great way to kick off the celebration and who better to provide it than Drew Nugent and The Midnight Society?”
