2 p.m. Burnt Store Presbyterian Come As You Are Praise Team.
3:20 p.m. The Boogiemen.
4:40 p.m. The Dennis Lee Show.
6 p.m. The Grass Roots with Rob Grill.
7:50 p.m. The Boogiemen.
9 p.m. The Dennis Lee Show.
2 p.m. Low Rent Band.
3:20 p.m. Democracy.
4:40 p.m. Stonewall.
6 p.m. Low Rent Band.
7:20 p.m. Democracy.
8:40 p.m. Stonewall.
12:45 p.m. Charlotte High Jazz Band.
2 p.m. Opening ceremony, Brayden Wiley/Lee County Pipe Drum.
2:50 p.m. The Uptown Express.
4:20 p.m. Jim Morris.
6 p.m. The Fall Guys and a Gal.
2 p.m. Gotham City.
3:20 p.m. The Yard Dogs.
4:40 p.m. Buckshot.
6 p.m. Gotham City.
7:20 p.m. The Yard Dogs.
8:40 p.m. Buckshot.
2:30 p.m. Nick's Kids Show.
4 p.m. Nick's Kids Show.
5:30 p.m. Nick's Kids Show.
The Grass Roots, the rock band that hit it big in the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as "Midnight Confessions," "Temptation Eyes" and "Let's Live for Today," will headline the Punta Gorda Block Party on Saturday in downtown Punta Gorda. The band, featuring longtime lead singer Rob Grill, will appear at 6 p.m.
on the Retta Esplanade Stage, one of four stages at the music-packed festival. "I try to find a band that plays songs people will recognize and who still have their original lead singer," said Mike Dallenbach, who has been in charge of entertainment for the Block Party for 17 years. Times have changed since the first Block Party 21 years ago, when Minnie Pearl was the headline act.
"I'd leave town if they weren't going to be here," Dallenbach said. "They have a big following here in Charlotte County. "People bring their chairs and set them up in front of the band long before they start playing.
They play big band and '50s and just about everything else, and Charlotte County loves them." Gussie Peeples Baker, who is one of the original planners of the Block Party and luncheon, is excited about this year's affair. More than 550 old-timers are expected to gather in the Tentatorium.
"Old-timer" is a misnomer in some ways, because the luncheon is a gathering of people who have lived in Charlotte County 25 years or more. Punta Gorda Police Chief Chuck Rinehart, a graduate of Charlotte High School, is one of the younger old-timers. "I really look forward to it every year," Rinehart said.
"You see people you don't normally see all year. That's kind of cool. You get to see a lot of the old-timers of Punta Gorda.
" "It's a time when we can all get together in one place, and almost every year we have someone who lived here during their childhood to return from out of town to see old friends," Baker said. Bertie Jones, who now lives in St. Petersburg and who turns 100 this year, is expected to be there to join the rest of the Jones clan.
"The Jones family goes back many generations," said Baker, who is a fourth-generation Charlotte County resident. Another familiar face expected to be there is Tosie Quednau Hindman, who served as supervisor of elections for 30 years before retiring. Born and raised in Punta Gorda, her father served as sheriff of Charlotte County when she was a child.
Besides seeing old friends, the old-timers will have an opportunity to bid on some Punta Gorda historical artifacts. One of them is a painting of the old Seminole Pharmacy owned by the Mobley family. "People who have seen the painting say they remember when they could get two scoops of ice cream for a nickel," Baker said.
She paused a minute and then added: "Seminole Pharmacy had the best cherry Cokes you ever had." Baker said the painting will bring back memories to many of the people in the community who grew up here because it was a "kids' hangout," and during wartime it was the local place where the soldiers hung out when they were on leave. A painting of the old Princess Hotel will also be auctioned.
The tent opens at 10 a.m. to give everyone a chance to visit.
A barbecue rib luncheon by Dean the Caterer will be served at noon. Last modified: April 19. 2007 12:00AM
The Grass Roots, the rock band that hit it big in the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as 'Midnight Confessions,' 'Temptation Eyes' and 'Let's Live for Today,' will headline the Punta Gorda Block Party .
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