Entertainment Is Alive In Van Wert: Watch, Wait & Anticipate

Watch, Wait & Anticipate
by Tafi Stober

Life is like a picnic. The date is set. The food is prepared. The blankets and lawn chairs are packed. The yard-jarts (circa 1970) are ready for contesting and the boom box is loaded up with cassette tapes that reflect the diverse musical tastes of an American family. We pile in the station wagon and we're off! Everyone is giddy with the anticipation of a day in the sun. A short drive away is the family’s favorite picnic spot and with the rigors of life, this time together has been earned. But wait! How can it be? The most dreaded childhood day-plan-destroyer strikes. Raindrops! First they drop slowly and then Father scrolls through the windshield wiper settings one at a time until the rain demands the wildly-flapping setting. The setting that is wildly waving goodbye to the plans of the day. Bye. Bye. Bye.

At first there are tears, denial and the feelings of devastation. Mother attempts to console by playing music that is a sharp contrast to the emotional moment. “Come On, Get Happy,” was definitely not going to turn the tide on this disappointment. And then the reminder came, “Hey kids, let’s just wait out the storm.” And so we do, making minutes mind our gaming instincts as every moment, whether desired or not, is filled with the same opportunity. So we watch, we wait, and we anticipate.

And so it is now. The Van Wert Area Performing Arts Foundation, programming Van Wert Live events, has prepared a 2020 filled with extraordinary entertainment. Some of which has been released and some that is bursting at the seams to be shared. Feel Good Fridays in Fountain Park, totally underwritten by the Van Wert County Foundation, is set to begin on June 5 with a schedule of Fridays to follow up until August 9. The popular Enrich Community Concert Series with events from October 2020 through April 2021 released and was met with overwhelming demand. In June, the Fall 2020 Grand Series of 8 events is to be announced. The highly anticipated Grandstand concert with Big$Rich at the Van Wert County Fair is set for September 5 with an opener yet to be announced. The entertainment opportunities are packed and ready!

This time is much like sitting in the station wagon we now call life. It is a holding zone where we watch, wait and anticipate what’s to come. We have the picnic basket filled with an array of delightful things prepared for our enjoyment. We can look out and see the perfect spot where we want to throw down the blankets and enjoy every last drop of the day we planned. It is of no surprise that I do not have an ending for this story. It is one that must be lived out and experienced in its fulness. We do believe that the best is yet to come. And when adaptation is imminent, we will adjust and communicate and continue to anticipate what’s next. The storm will pass and the stage will be safely set. When? We don’t know. But when we anticipate, the future always has a more optimistic fate. Please stay tuned, we are here working for you.