The Summer Concert Series is set to begin its 27th season on Sunday in the band pavilion at the borough park in Palmerton. The open-air concerts are free, just pull up a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy.

This year, there will be 12 concerts every Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m., or 8:30 if the band plays straight through, said Mata Curran, the founder of the concert series. There is an extra concert this year on July 24 in honor of the traveling Vietnam Moving Wall that will be in Palmerton that week.The series will kick off with the Palmerton Band that plays a variety of music styles. Curran said the music genres of the bands scheduled to perform this summer run from country western to polka, American Bandstand and the golden oldies, "which people really like," she said."Who Knows has a fabulous saxophone player," she said. They will perform on June 12.The Pennsylvania Villagers play polkas, Curran said. And The Large Flowerheads specialize in music from the '60s and '70s. Lenny and the Loafers are sponsored by Bill Gallagher in memory of his wife, Mary Gallagher, who loved to come to the concerts, she said.The concert series is sponsored by the Concourse Club of Palmerton, and is organized by a committee of seven women. Joann Kercsmar stepped up this year to help lead the committee with Curran after committee member Anita Henry passed away in January."I'm learning this is a two-person job," Kercsmar said."I don't think a lot of people know what's involved," Curran said.The committee selects the bands by March and books the dates, then they assign a club member to be present as that night's contact person for the band and the park. It also means if rain is threatening to wash out the fun, then the person in charge has to make the call. There are no rain dates."If it's my Sunday, I watch the weather all day to decide by 3 p.m. if I will cancel," Kercsmar said. "It's a very difficult decision to make, but we try our best."Fortunately, the call to cancel has been a rarity.In addition to organizing the weekly events, there's paying for them."Well over $100,000 has been given for these concerts over the 27 years, and that's all donated," Curran said.Donations are always accepted, she said.Costs keep going up. Just this year, the concerts cost $7,000 to pay the bands."The Horsehead Community Development Fund is super generous to us," Curran said.The concert series dates, bands and sponsors are:• June 5: Palmerton Community Band, Bandstand Committee (BC)• June 12: Who Knows, Horsehead Community Development Fund (HCDF)• June 19: Crazy Heart, First Northern Bank and Trust of Palmerton• June 26: Inch and the Echoes, HCDF• July 3: Palmerton Community Band, BC• July 10: Large Flowerheads, Pencor and the Concourse Club• July 17: Italian American Band, HCDF• July 24: Palmerton Community Band, BC• July 31: Lenny and the Loafers, Bill Gallagher• Aug. 7: Pennsylvania Villagers, Palmerton Lions Club• Aug. 14: Hazleton Band, Harry Brown• Aug. 21: Palmerton Community Band, BCTo make a donation to the concert series, make it payable to the Palmerton Bandstand Committee at P.O. Box 267, Palmerton, PA 18071.