GWBA Party in the Park gets great response

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Outshyne performs during the Party in the Park.

By David Meade

Organizers of The Greater Williamston Business Association (GWBA) Party in the Park were pleased with the response and overall success of their third and biggest event of the summer.

Local officials estimated a crowd of more than 5000 came to Mineral Spring Park for the free event which featured singer Delvin Choice and the band Outshyne. In anticipation of a large crowd, Williamston’s West Main Street in front of the park was shut down during the event.

GWBA President Chris Trotter said, “It was a great night. It was excellent. There was great turnout and great response. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. There was a great atmosphere. It couldn’t have been better.”

Delvin Choice, who recently appeared on “The Voice”, sang four songs before Outshyne came on stage and performed their songs and songs by some of the top country artists and others.

During the evening there were long lines for free face painting and “pet balloons” being made by a balloon artist. There was a variety of food items by local vendors and GWBA members offered cold drinks.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the GWBA’s premiere event, Party in the Park, held this past Saturday. The crowd, estimated at over 5,000, was awesome and the entertainment provided by Delvin Choice and Outshyne was outstanding!”

“It takes a huge number of dedicated volunteers to handle an event of this magnitude, and I am very appreciative of all the GWBA members who volunteered and contributed many hours of their time to our great community and this event!”

Trotter also thanked the town and others who helped make the event run smoothly.

  “What started out as an idea to have some fun and help the business members, has morphed into a quality, branded, successful event called “Party in the Park” that has drawn huge crowds from inside and outside of Williamston,” Trotter said.

“ The hospitality tax fund would be a great source to help fund this event in the future, and continue to grow our area businesses and improve the quality of life for the Williamston community.”

The Town of Williamston and the Party in the Park were featured last Friday morning during the Fox Carolina 21 TV news live broadcast with the news truck set up in front of the Mineral Spring Park Amphitheater.

Reporter Joe Gagnon interviewed members of the band Outshyne.

Members of Outshyne, whose single “Moonlight Crush” recently went to #1 on Sirius XM also spoke with The Journal.

When asked how things have changed with the success of their single on XM radio, band members said the group has seen their iTunes download of the song and social media posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter explode.

They even received a tweet from another young country music group who recently rose to the top of the charts, Florida Georgia Line, who tweeted a picture of the radio with their song showing on the Sirius FM station.

Outshyne’s first single “Dirt Road Romance”, was written by Florida Georgia Line and Albis Albritton, went to #29 on the Music Row Chart and #46 on the Billboard Indicator Chart.

“Moonlight Crush” was co-written by Marv Green, Blake Wise and BMI songwriter of the year Rodney Clawson, whose 13 #1 singles have included hits for Florida Georgia Line (“Get Your Shine On,” “Round Here”) and others.

With the success of their single, the band has been playing fairs and festivals throughout the country, rcently traveling to Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Drummer Matthew “Smiley” Norris said the response at those shows has been “pretty good.” “We’ve had a great response, especially away from home.”

Other members Josh Coleman (lead guitar, vocals), Casey Joe Kelly (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Jason Paxton (bass) joined in, “We are getting even bigger response than we do when we are at home.”

“We’ve had really good response wherever we’ve been,” Norris said.

The band also includes singer Waylon Owings (lead singer, guitar). All members of Outshyne are from Laurens.

Though they are playing larger shows and getting nationwide attention, they are still performing local shows.

During the TV broadcast, Gagnon also spoke with Williamston Mayor Mack Durham who appeared with his wife Sharon and GWBA President Chris Trotter and GWBA officer Robin Tucker during segments of the news broadcast.

The broadcast ended with the On-Air Friday dance party during which several local business representatives and town officials joined Gagnon and others for the fun.

Williamston’s next big event will be the 33rd annual Spring Water Festival August 22-23 which will feature award winning country music singer/songwriter Lucas Hoge. Sirius XM and radio stations across the country are now playing his new single Flip Flops.

Hoge also starred in an Animal Planet TV show “Last Chance Highway.”