Roosevelt Summer Sundays, a cherished Ames tradition, launches 21st season

On Sunday evenings throughout the summer for the last two decades, the sounds of singing, booming drums and wailing electric guitars have echoed off the bricks of the former Roosevelt school building.

Residents and visitors flock to the park near the old school. Once there, they set up lawn chairs and blankets on the grassy expanse in front of a permanent stage, where some of the finest musicians in Iowa and the Midwest perform. Kids play on swings and playground equipment at the far end of the park while adults enjoy the music and mingle.

There’s no cover charge or ticketing of any kind, just neighbors taking part in a cherished Ames community tradition known as Roosevelt Summer Sundays .

The series’ 21st season kicked off on June 2 with Iowa blues guitarist Matt Woods and concludes Aug. 25 with the Allman Brothers tribute band Southbound. From country and R&B to jazz and psychedelic rock, there's a musical style for everyone this year.

The series is produced by Friends of Roosevelt Park , a nonprofit formed in 2013 devoted to enhancing the park located at Ninth St. and Roosevelt Ave. The park is on the site of an elementary school that was closed in 2005 and converted into owner-occupied condominiums.

Stacey Ross, a 25-year resident of the Roosevelt neighborhood who chairs the concert committee, called the old school a centerpiece of the neighborhood: a hub of vital activity where community members met and got to know one another. Its closure dealt a major blow to the neighborhood, and community members viewed preserving the concert series, which began in 2003, as a means of filling some of the void.

“No one knew what was going to happen to the neighborhood when the school closed,” Ross said. “We were scared for what the future might hold. We felt like maintaining the concert series was a constant that could keep up that community connection and sense of ownership of that space.”

Jeff Hart has lived in the Roosevelt neighborhood on and off since moving to Ames in 2001. He’s a Roosevelt Summer Sundays organizer and also the high-energy singer and harmonica player for the Vinyl Vagabonds, a central Iowa blues outfit that’s a regular on the Roosevelt stage. The Vinyl Vagabonds played the series June 16 this year with Hart, lanky and barefoot, coaxing the audience to move to the band’s greasy grooves.

Hart got his start booking concerts in 1991 for the Mississippi Blues Society in the Quad Cities. He developed extensive contacts in the rhythm and blues world that carried over when he got involved with Roosevelt Summer Sundays after his family moved to Ames. The series has drawn Iowa blues mainstays including Joe and Vicki Price, Bob Dorr and Matt Woods.

But Hart and Ross stressed the variety offered by this year’s lineup, which showcases country, bluegrass, jazz and rock.

Hart marveled at how Roosevelt Park can resemble a ghost town at 6:30 p.m. and then fill up with hundreds of concertgoers by showtime at 7 p.m. He said the series has made such an indelible impression on his memory that he won’t be surprised if he has concert flashbacks on his death bed.

“When I die, that’s what I’m going to see. I’m going to see Roosevelt Summer Sundays with kids playing soccer and adults playing frisbee and bands on the stage, and kids riding bikes in front of the stage,” Hart said.

The committee has cultivated a reliable set of donors and community grants that cover the costs of the series and pay for the musicians, Ross said. She cited the Ames Commission on the Arts and Mary Greeley Medical Center as key funding sources in recent years. Organizers pass the hat at each concert for attendees who would like to contribute as well.

Ross said the layout of Roosevelt Park is key to the character of the concert series. The spacious lawn allows audience members to get up close to the stage to dance or get a close look at the musicians, while those who want to hang back and chat with neighbors have plenty of room to do so. And the playgrounds and swings provide youngsters with plenty of options for summer vacation fun.

Both Ross and Hart mentioned kids riding their bikes across the park during performances as among their favorite summer sights.

“I’ve been really lucky to be a part of this community and to be a part of these concerts,” Ross said. “It’s been a really meaningful thing to help build this community and be a part of creating beautiful memories for so many of my neighbors.”

If you'd like to attend, the series runs every Sunday night, starting at 7 p.m. The full line-up for the 2024 schedule includes:

• June 2: Matt Woods Band
• June 9: River City Opry
• June 16: Vinyl Vagabonds
• June 23: Ducharme-Jones Band
• June 30: The Get Down-DSM
• July 7: Avey Grouws Band
• July 14: Buckmiller | Schwager Band
• July 21: NOLA Jazz Band
• July 28: Eleven Moons
• Aug. 4: Brother Trucker
• Aug. 11: The Cherrypickers
• Aug. 18: Haymakers
• Aug. 25: Southbound-A Tribute To The Allman Brothers Band