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Getting The MOST Out Of "Clematis By Night" · Inside West Palm Beach

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  Hi everyone, I'm Jerry Marcello and
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  welcome to the City
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  Center podcast from West Palm
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  Beach.
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  When it comes to having fun outdoors,
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  West Palm Beach is known
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  for events like "Forthon
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  Flagler," "Holiday in Paradise," and of
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  course, the award-winning "Green Market."
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  Today we're going to talk about another
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  outdoor event that has
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  just been named one of the
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  top three best outdoor concert series in
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  the country that's by
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  USA Today's Top 10 Best
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  Readers Poll.
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  It's a weekly gathering of live music,
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  fun, and a very special
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  sense of community you
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  might not know about.
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  Join us for the City
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  Center podcast, next.
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  Joining me today is Mary Pinnock,
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  Marketing and Community
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  Events Manager for the City
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  of West Palm Beach.
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  Mary, welcome.
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  Welcome, thank you, Jerry.
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  Clamatus by Night, a
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  long-standing event in the community.
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  Tell us a little bit more about it.
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  Oh my gosh, well, we
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  celebrate its 30th birthday next June.
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  Wow, 30 years.
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  It really is 29 and holding.
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  Clamatus by Night is one of our heritage
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  events here in the
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  City of West Palm Beach.
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  It's hard to believe
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  since June 5th of 1995.
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  I know, can you believe that?
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  It's been rolling almost every Thursday.
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  We take just like four off a year and
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  that's holiday time.
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  Okay, so unlike some of the yearly events
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  like Fourth on Flagler
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  and Holiday in Paradise,
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  this is happening nearly every weekend
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  for the last 29 years.
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  It's 48 times a year every Thursday.
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  We're how the weekend gets started.
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  The other thing that we say, it's where
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  memories and music are made.
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  Nice.
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  It really is.
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  What was the seed that
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  started this rolling?
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  What made this come to life?
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  Way back when, 1995.
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  I think it was May of
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  1995, might have been April.
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  The mayor at the time, Nancy Graham, she
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  called me into her office one afternoon.
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  She had a local beer distributor in her
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  office that was, I
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  think, trying to pitch orange
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  juice or something crazy like that.
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  But he had an idea and she had, well, she
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  had the idea and he
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  liked it to start a weekly
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  concert entertainment
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  series downtown for the summer.
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  At that time, it was
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  pretty much dead downtown.
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  People left here at five o'clock, the
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  speed of a bullet out
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  of town, they were gone.
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  Right?
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  Right around that period of time, there
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  weren't a whole lot of
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  people living downtown.
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  Nobody lived downtown.
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  I can't think of hardly any buildings
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  that were downtown that
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  were residential, mostly
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  office workers.
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  She said, "I want to give this a shot."
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  She was really trying
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  to create a destination.
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  We had just had the
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  centennial the year before.
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  She was very much in favor and believed
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  in events as a way to
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  bring the community together
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  and to bring them downtown.
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  I said, "Okay.
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  Of course, I'm going to say
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  whatever needs to be done."
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  She said, "I want to start it in June."
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  We had 30 days to put together the event.
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  Usually an event named Clamatus by Night
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  had started the year before for, I don't
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  know, six or eight weeks.
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  It was a rolling event that went up and
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  down Clamatus Street.
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  It was a preliminary to the Clamatus by
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  Night as we know now.
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  We had the name,
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  Clamatus by Night, said it all.
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  On June 5th of 1995, we started with a
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  platform, literally like an
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  eight-foot table first stage.
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  It was a one platform stage.
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  We had one keg of beer
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  and one pizza vendor.
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  That was it.
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  That was it.
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  That was what we had.
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  We were just hoping to
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  get some people together.
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  Sure enough, about an hour into the
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  event, this bus pulls up.
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  I'm going to say they were in town for
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  some kind of conference.
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  They were actually
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  looking for a restroom.
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  Four hundred people got out of a couple
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  of buses and they didn't
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  leave until it was over.
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  That was the beginning
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  of Clamatus by Night.
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  Of course, now it's grown into, we have a
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  professional stage, we
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  have professional sound
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  company.
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  We bring in some of the top bands
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  regionally and
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  sometimes nationally as well.
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  It's a fantastic sound.
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  It's a beautiful, beautiful venue.
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  As you point out, professionally done,
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  very, very nice thing.
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  One of the things that strikes me most
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  about Clamatus by Night
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  is the sense of community
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  that you've got down there.
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  You see the same faces, you see new
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  faces, but everyone knows each other.
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  I think the beauty of this event and the
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  events that we do,
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  they're free events, first of
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  all.
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  Everybody can come.
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  There's not anything to
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  stop anybody from coming.
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  The beauty of these events is you can
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  have a crowd where one
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  person drove up in a Mercedes
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  and the other person walked up because
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  they can't afford a car.
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  They're all out there on the
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  dance floor, they're together.
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  There's no awareness of our differences.
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  Isn't that nice?
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  Everybody feels like they belong.
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  If we can accomplish that with an event,
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  maybe we can accomplish
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  that in a bigger arena.
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  Absolutely.
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  That's a great message to send.
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  With Clamatus by Night being such a
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  long-standing, long-running
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  event in the city persona and
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  its style, what do you think
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  really makes each event unique?
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  Is it the band?
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  Is it the weather?
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  What makes each one so special?
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  This is so many
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  different things, I think.
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  Obviously the music.
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  We have a variety of different music.
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  If you come one week and you hear rock,
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  you're not going to
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  hear rock the next week.
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  You might hear Motown
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  or Country or Reggae.
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  There's a variety.
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  We're pretty picky with the music.
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  We really try to do a good search to
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  bring in bands that are
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  popular locally, but also
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  bands that are touring.
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  You may only get to see those bands once
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  or twice a year
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  because they're headed to the
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  Keys to play at another
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  location that books live music.
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  The bands play a role.
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  The time of year, right now we're seeing
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  a lot of families because school's out.
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  It's staying light later.
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  That great lawn.
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  That grass is amazing.
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  The kids are playing frisbee.
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  It's just a wonderful space to bring your
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  family on Thursdays.
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  When Sandy's in town, a giant holiday
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  santry, then we've got all the people
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  that are celebrating
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  the traditional holiday time in December.
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  When spring, we get spring break.
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  Some of the spring break crowd, it just
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  really depends on the time of year.
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  We love that about it.
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  The fact that it's every single week, but
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  it's not always the same.
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  The personality
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  modifies with the seasons.
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  Yes, it very much does, but the
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  underlying reason that we
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  do it to bring the community
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  together is always there.
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  Now, you mentioned the bands.
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  Say is there an opportunity for a local
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  band to audition to be
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  a part of the program?
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  Sure.
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  We are always taking the
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  promo packs from local bands.
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  They can send an
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  electronic press kit to us.
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  We have a team that
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  reviews them on a periodic basis.
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  We book about three months or so out.
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  How would he find you?
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  How would he get in touch with you?
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  You can write to our
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  website, wpb.org slash events.
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  I come at us by night.
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  It says what to do with your EPK.
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  So obviously success and a good vibe has
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  been a part of this
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  program for a very long time.
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  The program has been recognized.
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  It's gotten an award.
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  Tell us a little bit about that.
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  It's won many awards over its 29 and a
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  half year career, but a
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  big one most recently is
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  USA Today named it in the top three of
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  the best outdoor
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  concert series in the country.
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  That was by voting.
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  The community voted.
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  That's neat.
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  That means more to us.
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  I think that anything, the
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  acknowledgement from the community that
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  they love the event.
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  There aren't many events
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  that are that long running.
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  I talk to other people at conferences and
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  government that work for government.
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  Things come and go and people change
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  their mind about this or that.
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  This truly is something that has
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  satisfied and sustained and
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  even even more successful.
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  The endorsement of the
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  folks who were attending it.
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  Those are the people who voted for it and
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  that pushed this
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  program into an awards type
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  of environment.
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  As you point out, that's really an
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  endorsement that I think
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  should ring with a lot of folks
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  who are thinking about coming down to a
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  Klamatas Spinae that the
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  folks who go there regularly
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  really love the event.
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  Absolutely.
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  What we see is it only usually takes one
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  time for somebody to come down.
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  We have our regulars.
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  Trust me.
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  They're there every week.
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  They may not come every week, but they're
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  coming once a month
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  or a couple of times a
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  month.
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  They're definitely
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  there for the big nights.
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  The other thing is that they know with
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  Klamatas Spinae is we
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  really ... It's the space where
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  we celebrate important
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  things in our community as well.
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  Every Super Bowl that has taken place in
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  Miami since 1995, Klamatas
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  Spinae has been the official
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  Palm Beach County celebration location by
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  the Super Bowl as
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  designated and sponsored
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  by the Super Bowl Hose Committee.
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  That is a wonderful thing
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  to know that they entrust us.
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  That's a big job.
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  We have done that at least
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  three times, I think four times.
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  I'd have to go back in my head and count,
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  but I think it's at least four times that
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  we've been that group.
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  When the Nationals won the World Series
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  and the Astros twice, we
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  are the official location
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  for those designated
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  celebrations during spring training.
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  That's due to partnerships
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  that we have with the community.
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  That all comes back down to the
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  reputation the program has
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  for community, for quality,
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  for all the things that
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  people want to be associated with.
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  That's really great to see this developed
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  and having developed over the decades.
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  It's also the place that when people are
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  upset about something,
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  they know the communities
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  here and they come
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  together for that as well.
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  Last year, one of our part-time popular
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  residents, Jimmy Buffett,
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  when he passed away, there
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  was so much sadness in the community, not
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  just in our community.
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  We very quickly put together
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  a tribute for Jimmy Buffett.
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  The right place to do it was
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  obviously at Klamatas Spinae.
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  We had a huge crowd.
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  Everybody was so grateful for that
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  opportunity that this year
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  we're actually doing it the
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  Thursday that starts Labor Day weekend
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  and it's the Labor Day weekend show.
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  If you know Jimmy Buffett, you know that
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  that Labor Day weekend
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  show is a very popular term
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  in association with Jimmy Buffett.
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  We're rolling out with
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  the Caribbean Chillers.
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  It's a fabulous tribute
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  band to Jimmy Buffett.
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  We have a bubbles-up tribute that we're
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  going to do and some
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  other special Jimmy Buffett
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  type things.
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  We really hope we get that crowd again.
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  It'll be August the 29th.
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  What do we have it?
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  August the 29th.
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  August the 29th.
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  It starts at the
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  traditional 7 p.m. or 6 p.m.?
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  Six to nine.
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  Okay.
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  Six to nine.
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  We'll be right out on the Great Lawn with
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  those palm trees and
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  where he lived in the
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  background obviously.
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  We'll have the parrot heads of the Palm
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  Beaches out again and
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  some of the other groups that
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  are meaningful to Jimmy Buffett.
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  That will be very well attended.
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  Let's talk a little bit
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  about what is coming up.
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  What's on your schedule coming up through
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  the rest of the summer?
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  We have lots of good bands.
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  Of course, like I said, every Thursday we
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  have East Harbor Pop
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  and Rock this Thursday.
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  Then we have Classic Rock and
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  R&B, the Melinda Alina band.
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  We've got all different
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  kinds of bands in August.
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  We'll end with the Caribbean Chillers.
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  The Derek Mack band is
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  going to be here in August.
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  That's a local band that's Motown Rock.
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  They've played many times in the dance
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  crowd where they get a great.
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  It's a good energy night.
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  Then we have a new
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  band, Poor Life Decisions.
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  We haven't had them before.
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  We try to mix it up.
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  We have some bands that we've had, I can
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  name a couple, that go
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  back almost 30 years.
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  We try to bring in some new bands too
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  because you have to keep
• 14:15:35
  it fresh and different.
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  Sure.
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  Okay.
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  If I am someone who has never gone to a
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  climatospy night,
• 14:15:42
  interested in coming, maybe I live
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  in city or maybe I live outside somewhere
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  in the county, give
• 14:15:47
  me best tips for really
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  enjoying myself.
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  How do I get there?
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  Where do I park?
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  Those types of things.
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  It starts at six.
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  If I wasn't working it, I would probably
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  come a little early and
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  maybe grab something to
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  eat on the street.
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  The city garages are
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  reasonably priced at that time.
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  Thursday nights,
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  they're not usually too busy.
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  I would get here as early as five maybe,
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  5.30, park, bring a lawn
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  chair or bring a blanket.
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  The grass though on that
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  great lawn is so amazing.
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  I've seen people without blankets, but I
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  would bring a chair or a
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  blanket just for comfort.
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  There's no gates or
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  anything people have to go through.
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  No, it's absolutely free.
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  We're right at the foot of Colmata
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  Street, right where the
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  fountain is, and right in
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  that great lawn.
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  We have any of the refreshments that you
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  would want to drink.
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  We have food vendors that
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  are out, so that's handled.
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  I should plan on
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  getting there 5.30, 6 o'clock.
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  How late do we go?
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  We go till nine.
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  We go till nine.
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  We find that to be over the course of 30
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  years, I can tell you
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  many different times.
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  We've gone to this, we've gone to that
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  nine o'clock's sweet spot.
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  At that point, the families, generally
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  the kiddos need to get home.
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  The adults a lot of times like to go down
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  the street, and we're
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  really happy to send
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  them down the street
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  to other establishments.
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  Nine o'clock's a sweet spot.
• 14:17:26
  Like I said, tried many different times,
• 14:17:30
  and six to nine seems to be the best.
• 14:17:32
  This time of year, you want to dress cool
• 14:17:35
  in cool clothes because it can be hot.
• 14:17:38
  Is it buggy?
• 14:17:39
  Not bugs, but it can be hot, at least
• 14:17:43
  till seven o'clock or so,
• 14:17:44
  you want to wear sunscreen.
• 14:17:46
  There are shady patches, and as that sun
• 14:17:48
  goes down beneath the
• 14:17:49
  buildings, it cools off even
• 14:17:52
  more.
• 14:17:53
  We've covered a lot of ground here.
• 14:17:56
  Is there any specific points you really
• 14:17:58
  want to share with
• 14:17:59
  folks about the program?
• 14:18:02
  I just hope everybody
• 14:18:04
  realizes how special it is.
• 14:18:07
  Like I said, I have friends in other
• 14:18:09
  municipalities, and very rarely do you
• 14:18:13
  see an event that lasts
• 14:18:16
  almost 30 years so far with
• 14:18:18
  the following that it has.
• 14:18:20
  My kids grew up there.
• 14:18:23
  Now I'm seeing their kids, you know, kids
• 14:18:25
  of kids grow up there.
• 14:18:29
  It really is a...
• 14:18:32
  My husband never misses it, and it's not
• 14:18:34
  because I'm there,
• 14:18:35
  because he says, "I really need
• 14:18:36
  that once a week.
• 14:18:37
  I need to be able to be outside."
• 14:18:39
  All of his friends, he met at Clomadis by
• 14:18:41
  night, and they're an assortment.
• 14:18:43
  When I tell you this is an assorted group
• 14:18:45
  of friends, they all met there.
• 14:18:48
  They meet just about every Thursday
• 14:18:50
  night, and they leave the
• 14:18:53
  drama of their lives behind,
• 14:18:56
  and they listen to music, and they enjoy
• 14:18:58
  this beautiful city, and
• 14:19:00
  they enjoy this beautiful
• 14:19:01
  event.
• 14:19:02
  It is a beautiful event, and we're hoping
• 14:19:04
  that more and more
• 14:19:05
  people will take advantage
• 14:19:06
  of this on a weekly basis, and wow, a
• 14:19:09
  tremendous amount of work
• 14:19:10
  by you and your team to make
• 14:19:12
  this happen on a weekly basis.
• 14:19:13
  So thank you very much for what you do.
• 14:19:15
  Thank you.
• 14:19:16
  And thank you for
• 14:19:17
  listening to today's discussion.
• 14:19:19
  If you enjoyed the show today, please
• 14:19:20
  like and subscribe to
• 14:19:22
  see more of our content.
• 14:19:24
  The City Center podcast is produced by
• 14:19:25
  the City of West Palm Beach
• 14:19:26
  Communications Department.
• 14:19:28
  I'm Jerry Marcello.
• 14:19:30
  We'll see you next time.