Left to right, Chris Carter, Guitar; Alvin Harrison, Bass; Lance Ong, Keyboard & Musical Director, Zachary Marks, Drums; Nicole Hart, Vocals & Band Leader, Jason Gisser, opening act; Madison and Tom O'Reilly drawing 50/50 prize winners; Denise Russell, owner Hanlon's Steak House taking orders for food; Keith Costa, Harmonica; and Matthew Brady, Sound Engineer. Underneath the hot, humid, 90-degree-plus sun, Tom O'Reilly, Cathy Colona, Matthew Brady and other members of the Putnam Valley Parks & Recreation Sunset Series team prepared the stage for the August 1, 2008 summer concert in the Leonard Wagner Memorial Town Park. The weather was a perfect counterpoint to the evening's cool music and hot food to be served up

The evening featured local entertainer and band leader Jason Gisser and Nicole Hart and her NRG Band.

Although the concert was scheduled to start at 6:30pm, some of the crowd began to show up earlier; they came to picnic and enjoy the food catered by Hanlon's Steak House in Putnam Valley. Denise Russell (owner of Hanlon's) and her staff had the kitchen and grill cranked up and ready to serve Black Angus steak burgers, hot dogs, BBQ pulled pork, BBQ pork wings, grilled chicken wrap, and their own special blend of coleslaw.

Hanlon's chefs and food order forms circulated amongst the crowd getting feedback on how the crowd enjoyed the food. People were honest in their comments and the only complaint I heard was "my hamburger was a little too rare but it was so good I didn't want to bring it back." The chef apologized and said, "Please don't ever hesitate to bring it back, if it is not cooked the way you like it, it's not a problem."

Besides Hanlon's food, the aroma of the Parks & Rec. Dept's popcorn machine going was hard to resist and they were ready with ice cold drinks to quench any thirsts.

An unexpected treat for everyone was the lead-off opening act, Jason Gisser, vocalist, guitarist, and leader of his own band. He lives in Continental Village and you can hear him and his band perform in local establishments. Jason has his own enjoyable style of singing folk songs.

When Gisser finished his set, he introduced Nicole Hart and her NRG band with "you're in for a real treat," whereupon this energetic young lady leapt onto the stage, grabbed the microphone and shouted, "Are you ready to party?" The audience roared back "Yeah!"

"I'm going to start you off with some instrumentals from our NRG Band" and with a wave of her arms the four-piece band began to rock the house.

Each band member is a talented musician but bass guitarist Alvin Harrison adds another dimension. If you look carefully you can see that the instrument he is playing is different. It's a hand-made guitar he designed and crafted himself in the shape of a Cobra snake. "I am very particular when it comes to my guitar," said Harrison.

After a few instrumental sets Hart bounced back on stage and told the audience that the Summer Series concert is the end of a 21-day national tour. She said "Tomorrow, I'm leaving with my fiancé Lance Ong (musical director, composer and keyboardist) to fly to Seattle to meet his family and then we are off to the Island of Oahu, Hawaii where by this time next week we will be married." The audience cheered.

"OK, let's get this party started," said Nicole Hart, bursting into a lively melody. It's always a treat to hear and watch Nicole Hart sing and dance; she is pure, unfiltered NRG.

This Atlanta-born young lady who now hails from Hackensack, New Jersey, was singing like a lady in love. She had her sister and family out in the audience, her fiancé on stage performing with her, and she sang about finding true love again even though she thought it was impossible and she never would. "But I have found it once again, and so can you," she said to the ladies in the audience.

It was about 9:07pm when Nicole Hart asked what time it was. When the audience told her, she said, "Oh, we were supposed to take a break about now, ah - what say we just keep going." The crowd cheered and the band kept playing. Meanwhile, Tom O'Reilly had his strobes going, multi-color lights flashing, and he was busy regulating the fog machine to add a misty, foggy look to the musical scene.

Ms. Hart said she likes to share the stage with other performers, and true to her word, she invited Putnam Valley's own Keith Costa up to the stage to jam with the band. Costa wailed on his harmonica with the full band backing him up. "He's good," commented Nicole.

The band finished up their set around 10pm with some down and dirty good ole southern Atlanta blues.

It was then that Ms. Hart turned the microphone over to Tom O'Reilly for the 50/50 prize drawings and she went off to autograph her CD for fans. The 50/50 cash prize for the evening was $124.

The next concert in the Summer Sunset Series is Putnam Valley's own Michelle LeBlanc and her Jazz and Blues band. They will be appearing on Friday, August 15, and as always, are sure to be a hit with the audience.

Too soon the summer ends, but what a finale O'Reilly and company have planned. On Saturday, August 23 he's hosting a music festival in the park featuring Fred Gillen, the Hudson Rhythm Boys, and the Burr Johnson Band. If there was a roof on the building they would blow it off! This is non-stop music and is being sponsored by donations from Town Supervisor Bob Tendy, Councilpeople Bob Cinque and Priscilla Keresy, and Putnam Valley's County Legislator Sam Oliverio.