By Hutton Marshall

Starting in June, a free summer concert series aimed at fostering neighborhood amity will kick off in Allied Gardens.

The series, known as “First Fridays,” will take place on the first Friday of each month from June to September at the Allied Gardens Recreation Center. Allied Gardens/Grantville Community Council (AGGCC) President Anthony Wagner said the series will fill the void of a long-needed community get-together.

“All too often our community stays in their own silo, so you have the retired folks that stay in their silo and the school age families that stay in their silo, and everybody else that stays in their own,” Wagner said. “So this is a wonderful opportunity to bring everyone together so you can know who your neighbor is.”

Many other neighborhoods, such as North Park and University Heights, hold similar concert series each summer, usually organized by a local community organization. This series in particular will be modeled after the Mission Hills Concerts in the Park series, a staple in the Uptown neighborhood for more than 20 years.

“I think whenever your community can come together for a very positive event, it allows people to get to know each other,” said Patty Ducey-Brooks, a longtime organizer of the Mission Hills event. “Even though you can be neighbors and live right across the street from each other, sometimes you don’t get to appreciate each other until you’re at an event like that.”

The Allied Gardens series will launch June 5. Factoring in permitting, sound stage and other event amenities, Wagner estimates the four-concert series will necessitate approximately $14,000 in funding. Ducey-Brooks, publisher of the Presidio Sentinel and a 33-year resident of Mission Hills, said funding these grassroots events seldom comes easy.

“I remember the years we were barely able to get one or two concerts put on, but then the community would show up — as they always do — to really show their support and pay for several more concerts that summer,” Ducey-Brooks said.

While the Allied Gardens series still seeks corporate sponsors in the community, Wagner thanked Councilmember Scott Sherman’s office for pledging $5,000 from his district office’s budget to support the event. The Allied Gardens council recently submitted an application to formalize the funding.

“Scott Sherman has been instrumental to our success,” Wagner said. “[Sherman] giving us our first $5,000 really solidified us as an event that is really is going to happen and it encouraged other stakeholders to join in as well.”

The musical lineup for the event hasn’t been announced yet, but AGGCC Board Member Alex Zubek said they will likely borrow heavily from the Mission Hills acts.

“They’re proven, they’re for all ages and they’re really good,” Zubek said.

Ducey-Brooks mentioned Y3K and the Ballad Mongers among her favorite recurring bands at the concerts.

“The Ballad Mongers — they do Celtic rock music and a lot of original material and they’re so much fun,” she said. “And they feel like this [Mission Hills] community is their community, even though they come from all over San Diego.”

Wagner, whose organization began planning the event earlier this year with the local Kiwanis chapter, said that the community collaboration stirred by this event has already strengthened neighborhood ties.

“Many hands make light work,” Wagner said. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to come together not just in process, but to be part of something far greater than just ourselves.”

—Contact Hutton Marshall at [email protected].