After a day of festivities celebrating America’s 250th anniversary in the City of Ravenna, the Ravenna Parks & Recreation Department will host a concert featuring the country music band DEK of Hearts at Sunbeau Valley Farm 3248 Brady Lake Road on July 11 beginning at 7 p.m.
“This event is big for the community,” Ravenna Parks & Recreation Director Chris Bundy told The Weekly Villager. “It will be the first large-scale concert that we are trying to put on at Sunbeau Valley Farm. It is also winding down the evening of the America250 event. This is going to be an awesome event and party for our City and the surrounding communities to come around and be a part of.”
The City of Ravenna will welcome the up-and-coming DEK of Hearts, who recently finished in third place on the NBC hit singing competition ‘The Voice’ and debuted at the Grand Ole Opry, the biggest country music stage in Nashville, TN.
According to Bundy, the Ravenna Parks & Recreation Department had been interested in bringing DEK of Hearts to the City for some time, as Events & Administrative Coordinator Derek Patterson had been in touch with one of the band’s members, Dylan John, who is a native of Stow.
“For him, he was excited to be able to come back and play to a hometown crowd, so he is excited about making a homecoming and coming back to this area,” noted Bundy.
Bundy said that DEK of Hearts will perform some original songs and cover some classics as well, including a few patriotic songs to celebrate the day’s theme.
Bundy said that bringing in a rising band such as DEK of Hearts only added to the community’s growing anticipation for the special concert.
“That is exciting for us,” Bundy said. “We are trying to get them out there as much as we can because we want everyone to come down and celebrate this evening and listen to some great music with the DEK of Hearts.”
Sunbeau Valley Farms was the original site of Ravenna’s annual Balloon-A-Fair but had not been utilized for some time when the annual event relocated to the Portage County Fairgrounds.
Bundy said that the Ravenna Parks & Recreation Department had designs on using Sunbeau Valley Farms as a venue for several events, especially since the City recently purchased the property last year.
“We have been looking at this year to try and find some different opportunities to bring some different events out to Sunbeau Valley Farms and this type of concert works great because we have the space for parking,” he added. “We have the terrace seating out by the old outdoor arena, we have the stage there and it just makes for an amazing location.”
While the concert is the first major event that Sunbeau Valley Farms will host, Bundy emphasized that the Ravenna Parks & Recreation Department plans on making the site a popular venue for several events in the future.
Bundy noted that although the day would be headlined by the America250 Festival, the City of Ravenna had invited several local community and business partners to offer a celebration of their own to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.
“We wanted to add something to the event, and we feel like this concert is a great way and a great addition to cap the whole day off and send it out with a bang,” he said.
In addition to the concert, the Ravenna Parks & Recreation will have several local food trucks stationed at the event and has enlisted West Main Street Winery to provide refreshments.
Bundy said that Ravenna Parks & Recreation Department estimates that about least 5,000 people will attend the concert.
“We are not going to be lining each row with chairs, so people might put blankets down and might put down lawn chairs,” Bundy said. “I envision maybe 2,000 people can fit there but we also have the entire riding arena and I envision turning that into an area where a lot of people put out their lawn chairs or maybe throw a blanket down and enjoy a concert.
