Cranberry’s signature summer event returns with a new name and some new attractions
CRANBERRY TWP — Summer’s back, and the township’s signature event, Cranberry Summer Nights, formerly known as Cranberry Community Days, is too.
Hundreds turned up starting at 4 p.m. at the Cranberry Community Park for the kickoff of a weekend of summer fun.
As usual, the park was lined with food and beverage vendors, carnival attractions and booths set up by local organizations. Rows of classic cars were staged at the park for a Cruisin’ Cranberry car show.
The fourth annual Rotary Craft Ale & Vine Garden was also arranged at the park, with drinks from Koehler Brewing Company and Mazza Vineyards.
Among the newly introduced features this year was an artisan market set up on the tennis courts, which offered products ranging from henna to honey, as well as handcrafted jewelry and other attractions, such as face painting and even a chair massage.
A pop-up “terrace” space was set up for the first time at the event over the basketball court.
Amy Smith, executive director of the Cranberry Foundation, said the terrace offers an “elevated experience” more suited to adults not accompanied by children. The space is temperature controlled and has lunch stands and beverages all weekend.
In the terrace space at the beginning of the event, several township officials gave remarks at a private reception for community leaders. The reception was followed by an opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the rotary amphitheater.
The event concluded with live music from The Clintones at 6 p.m. and from Radio Tokyo at 8:15 p.m.
The rebranding of the event this year, from Community Days to Summer Nights — or, for that matter, of sponsor Cranberry Township Community Chest to Cranberry Foundation — goes beyond the name change, Smith said.
Over the last year, township officials evaluated how the community has changed recently and recognized growing needs for a population on the rise.
“Our people are evolving. The needs are evolving. The interests are evolving,” said Smith. “There is really something for everybody.”
The event has grown in scale over time, Smith said. Likewise, organizers have been more intentional bringing in Cranberry partners, or “people that are in the region,” at the event.
The event was also spread out more this year than last, Smith said.
“What we wanted the event to have is a little breathing room,” she said.
Planners set up the area in a way that was less congested, which allowed for more walking space.
What has not changed in Smith’s 16 years at the township is the venue: The park continues to serve as the best location for summer nights.
“We plan on keeping it here,” Smith said.
The most notable new feature was a market area where local and visiting artisans could share their products and services with the community.
“What we recognized is that Cranberry Township has incredible talent,” Smith said. “We didn’t really have a dedicated space for that group of people.”
One such booth at the market belonged to Aurora Dugas, representing her crochet business. Dugas, who currently lives south of Pittsburgh, said she is moving to Cranberry Township in the near future.
Dugas said Summer Nights was a good opportunity to share the word about her business and get to know the community better. Dugas plans on starting crochet lessons and hopes to start a brick and mortar establishment at some point.
Matt Graham, from Rustic Roots, a Monongahela, Washington County-based boutique store, said the event was a good way for the business to leave its small bubble.
Graham often ventures out to Cranberry for his day job and he said the business often participates at Mars Applefest. He said he was impressed with how well attended Summer Nights seemed to be.
“There’s a lot of different things,” said Graham. “It looks like a really exciting event.”
The general programming from Thursday will return on Friday and Saturday with five new live music performers scheduled between the two days.
Saturday’s events will start a little earlier, at 8:30 a.m., with the Cranberry Chase 5K also happening at the community park. On site registration for the timed race starts at 7:30 a.m.
From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., at Jaycees Shelter, the Cranberry Lion’s Club will host a breakfast.
From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Cranberry CUP Kids Castle Playground will be set up, featuring appearances from balloon animals and costumed characters.
Fireworks are scheduled for 9:45 p.m.
Ultimately, Summer Nights is designed to be a family experience, with the purpose of bringing the community together for shared summer activities, said Dan Santoro, township manager.
Community building has vital components like sewer management and roads, “but that’s just the infrastructure,” Santoro said. “Community is really about connection, neighborhoods, people, organizations; and that’s what this event is about — bringing people together.”
