Concert to be replaced by sports festival

STERLING - Sorry, music lovers, the Park District won't be hosting an encore this summer to 2006's "country concert," which featured crooner Mark Wills on a stage set up behind the Westwood Sports and Expo Center. The Park District had hoped to make the outdoor concert and annual affair, but organizers failed to book a suitable act to make the concert financially viable this summer, Park District Executive Director Larry Schuldt said. The district hopes find an act and hold a concert next summer, Schuldt added.

Music fans' loss could be sports fans' gain - in place of the concert, the Sterling Park District is planning to put on a sports festival, featuring night golfing, mushball and basketball tournaments, Schuldt said.

The festival is planned to begin with a round of night golfing using glow-in-the-dark balls at Emerald Hill on Aug. 3. The following day, the park district will put on a "mushball" tournament - which is played like softball only using a larger, softer ball that doesn't require a glove to catch - at the baseball diamonds at Westwood, Schuldt said.

Also on Aug. 4, the festival will feature a three-on-three basketball tournament played on blacktop courts.

All the plans are subject to change, he said.

"We may be looking at other events," Schuldt said. "I'm not sure how much we want to bite off at one time."

When the tournaments are over, everyone will be invited to a beer tent hosted by "Dwyer and Michaels," a pair of popular DJs who tell jokes, run games and play music, Schuldt said.

The Sterling Park District Board of Commissioners will vote at a 7 p.m. meeting tonight on whether to allow alcohol to be served at the event - the first step before the district applies for a temporary liquor license, Schuldt said.

The festival events will have entry fees, and like the concert, all profits will go toward the district's "fee assistance fund," which helps low-income people take part in park district programs or activities at little to no cost.

With more money, the park district hopes to "reduce the red tape" and let more people receive assistance from the program, he said.