Despite rainy weather, locals rocked on this weekend to celebrate Lehighton Downtown Initiative’s fifth annual Rocktoberfest.

Taking place in Lehighton’s Upper and Lower Park, the event spanned both Saturday and Sunday.

Attendees could enjoy music on either level of the park, browse the food and craft vendors, visit the beer and wine garden, take part in the Lehighton Fire Department’s basket raffle and participate in a car show held by the Pharoahs Car Club of Jim Thorpe. A 5K run also took place Saturday morning on the D&L trail to benefit breast cancer awareness.

There were activities for children as well, including rides, carnival games, pumpkin painting, building scarecrows and trick-or-treating at the vendor stands toward the nighttime.

Overall, Lehighton Downtown Initiative President Ryan Saunders said the event included activities that attendees of all ages could enjoy.

“We have fun stuff for all ages so there’s definitely something for everyone here.”

Some attendees included Palmerton residents Linda Marlatt and her 12-year-old son Nathan Marlatt.

It was their first time attending Rocktoberfest, and the two of them both enjoyed browsing the local vendors and buying things such as peanut butter and wine.

Nathan’s favorite part of the event was getting to see the amphitheater in the Upper Park in person as well as checking out all the different vendors in attendance.

They both expressed that they had a fun time attending the event and Linda concluded with an encouraging message saying, “Everybody, get out there and support the local community.”

A diverse number of bands performed live at the event as well, playing genres that were able to accommodate a variety of music tastes. Musical performances included Rude Groove, PSYD FX, Damian Walck, Dave Matsinko, Supersonic GF, Griffin Zignoli, Blunt, Bedlam Blues, Joanna B/Mike, The Cramer Brothers Band, Eric Stimmler and his band The Left Edge.

Despite some rain, The Left Edge kicked off Saturday night at the Upper Park amphitheater from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Stimmler, the keyboardist of The Left Edge, explained that the Boyertown band had been together for 22 years initially forming in 1998. Current members in addition to Stimmler included guitarists Stephen Moszkowicz and Buddy Frederick, drummer Tom Freed, and bassist Smoky Panepinto.

Stimmler defined The Left Edge as a classic rock show band and described their style as ranging from “Sabbath to Sinatra.”

This held true as they started their set with “Old Time Rock & Roll” by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. They went on to also play songs by The Drifters, The Foundations, The Beatles and more.

It was the band’s third year attending Rocktoberfest and Stimmler noted that the band always enjoyed coming to play at the event.

He also praised Lehighton for its efforts in improving the park in recent years and that it looked great for the event.

When asked about his favorite part of performing live music, Stimmler explained that he really looked forward to seeing people in the audience singing along to their music.

He described how playing familiar songs could transport people back in time and invite them to recount happy moments in their lives.

“A certain song can take people back to a certain time or something that was special in their lifetime. It can take you right back there, like a pleasant memory.”

Stimmler ended by saying that it was great to see members of the community come together to take part in the event and thanked LDI for inviting them to play.

Visit www.theleftedge.com for more information on the band.

Lehighton Downtown Initiative President Ryan Saunders explained the mission statement of the organization.

“We are a Main Street Initiative fully invested in revitalizing the community. So we put on community events to bring people out of their homes and give them things to do and to build a buzz in our community.”

Saunders noted that proceeds from Rocktoberfest would allow LDI to host future events for the Lehighton community.

LDI treasurer and event coordinator Bambi Elsasser noted that these future events included community favorites like Wine on the River and the Farmers Market.

Elsasser announced LDI’s upcoming merge with the Main Street Committee of Lehighton and the formation of the new Lehighton Downtown Partnership in which she would serve as Lehighton Main Street Manager.

She stated that the goal of the merge is to continue revitalizing the community with a focus on the downtown area. LDI events like Rocktoberfest, Wine on the River and the Farmers Market will still continue to take place following the merge.

“The community has to all join together and make their town successful,” Elsasser said. “It takes everybody, it’s not just one person or one organization. It’s a team of the whole community and we need everybody’s help.”

She also brought attention to all of the positive attractions of Lehighton, hoping to ultimately attract visitors from outside of the local community.

“We’re trying to promote all of Lehighton and we’re hoping that people come out to our festivals and they realize how nice of a town we have, even from far away like people who are traveling. We would love to have them here and see how great of a town Lehighton really is.

“We’ve got great businesses down on First and Second Street and great partnerships with everybody and throughout the whole community.”

“We’re going to build on this, keep moving forward and because it’s Rocktoberfest, we’re going to get our town rocking!” Elsasser said.

For more information on LDI and upcoming events, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lehightondowntowninitiative.