June concerts shut down

During its monthly meeting on May 26, the Gonzales Main Street board decided to cancel the June portion of its annual summer concert series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although it remains optimistic about fireworks in July.

Chairman Greg Webb said a lot of people are disappointed about the situation, but the board has no other alternative at this time.

“It’s a lot of hard work getting things set up and ready to go for us,” Webb said. “The production company and the bands; and it’s not the kind of thing you can wait until the last minute on. It also takes lots of money to pull it off and sponsors were scarce this spring for

obvious reasons. Combine all that with not knowing if the state would even allow mass gathering or festivals and we had to reluctantly cancel the June concerts.”

Webb noted that the Gonzales City Council confirmed that it would like do everything possible to have the entire Star Spangled Spectacular on July 4, including the fireworks display. Webb said he remains optimistic that bands including Andrea Marie & the Magnolia Band as well as the Dirty River Boys have confirmed that they’d still want to play and are willing to wait until the last minute for a chance to perform on Confederate Square in downtown Gonzales on Independence Day.

“People are hungry to get out, see old friends and forget their problems for a bit,” he said. “(There are large numbers) of sponsors that have stepped up and said that they’d support the Spectacular. Now it’s a waiting game.”

Webb said the board is anticipating further guidance on mass gatherings and festivals from Gov. Greg Abbot before the board’s next meeting in June.

“If we haven’t heard anything by that time the Main Street Advisory Board will, unfortunately, have little choice but to cancel the musical part of the festivities,” Webb said.

Webb added that this all comes at a time when former manager Barbara Friedrich is retiring and that the board miss her after her 20 years of experience.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Barbara,” Webb said. “Her energy always seemed boundless. And hers was not a simple job. It’s not all about party planning. There are tons of paperwork to keep the façade grants running smoothly and to keep the state and city happy in multiple ways. She’d also have to have the will of a lion tamer when it comes to dealing with vendors at events, keeping board members in line and organizing city employees in preparation for the festivities we’ve all loved through the years. She’ll be deeply missed in ways we won’t even know until things start to go haywire. Luckily we have (new manager) Liz Reiley trying to fill her shoes.”