By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
How many people does it take to pull off the annual Pops at the Post concert?
Lots.
And Salisbury City Council recognized almost each and every one of them Tuesday at the beginning of its regularly scheduled meeting.
“So many people have worked so hard over the past five years to make this possible,” Mayor Susan Kluttz said. “… Pops at the Post just doesn’t happen. It takes many people working many hours.”
She lamented that committee members who work behind the scenes each year have never been recognized since the first Pops at the Post in 2005.
That concert was meant to be a one-shot deal, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Salisbury Post.
It proved to be such a downtown hit that it has become an annual event.
Pops at the Post committee members include Audrey Eudy, Dyke Messinger, Susan Shinn, Ronnie Tomlinson, Linda Jones, David Jones, David Hagy, Lisa Houston, Randy Hemann, Betz McKeown, Bob Setzer, Jack Potvin and Melonie Thompson.
F&M Bank, represented by Paul Fisher, and Jim and Gerry Hurley were presenting sponsors for this year’s June 6 concert, which drew from 3,500 to 4,000 people.
Additional financial sponsors were Food Lion LLC (Kyna Foster); Robertson Foundation (David Setzer); Fred and Alice Stanback; Duke Energy (Randy Welch); Rowan Regional Medical Center (Zandra Spencer); Bank of North Carolina (Mark Lewis): Community One Bank (Skip Wood): First Bank (Lisa Houston): Global Contact Services (Greg Alcorn); Tom & Martha Smith; Summit Developers (Clay Lindsay): Trinity Oaks (Diane Hundley): Wachovia Bank (Bill Greene): Community Bank (Bruce Jones); KKA Architecture (Karen Alexander); Ramsay, Burgin, Smith Architects (Bill Burgin); Bill and Nancy Stanback; Taylor Clay Products (Charles Taylor Jr.); Salisbury Academy (Betty Kuvinka); SunTrust Bank (Jim McDermott).
Other individuals who carried out various jobs and duties connected to the concert included Kent Bernhardt; Jody Vail; the Salisbury Police Department and its Explorers club; Salisbury High School Air Force JROTC; Salisbury Fire Department; the city’s Street Division, Solid Waste Division and Landscape Operations; and the Air National Guard based in Rowan County.