PHOTOS BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT … Party in the Park main performer The Skittle Bots pose behind their merch table before setting up to play. From left are Nick Baker, Jon Perez de Tagle, Sean Altenburg, Anthony Beck, and Scott Biddle.
JUMP AROUND … Children enjoy a variety of inflatable features at Delta’s Party in the Park.
VYING FOR VITTLES … A line of hungry patrons wait for food at the Better Than Yo Mama’s food truck during festivities at Friday’s Party in the Park in Delta.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Warm, sunny weather and plenty of fun drew residents out for Friday the Delta Area Chamber of Commerce’s Party in the Park in Delta Friday night.
Replete with food trucks, drinks, and entertainment for children and adults, more than 100 were in attendance by 7:30 p.m., with the event running until midnight.
The entertainment was kicked off by the JT Hayden Band, a Toledo-based southern rock band consisting of JT Hayden, Jeff Traxler, Mike Harshman, Tim Currier, and Dan Majors.
They were followed by main act The Skittle Bots, also based out of Toledo, which plays a mash of 90s and 90s-adjacent hits.
“It’s all things released from 1990 to 1999, we play a lot of mashups, all genres, and we match up a lot of songs that probably shouldn’t go together, but we make it happen. It’s just a lot of fun,” bassist and singer Nick Baker said.
Baker is joined by singer Jon Perez de Tagle, drummer and singer Sean Altenburg, singer and guitarist Anthony Beck, and lead guitarist Scott Biddle.
Although the band has been around longer with a different format, the current lineup and style have been in place since 2017. The band has played in Delta in the past at the Chicken Festival.
Food at the event was provided by the Better Than Yo Mama’s, Shaver’s Sizzlin Shack, The Rolling Lemon, and KovarQue food trucks, while a beer tent did steady business. Children could jump in a bounce house, bounce house with slide, or a small inflatable obstacle course.
Four teams also competed in a cornhole tournament. “It’s really just meant to be a fun community event at the end of the summertime,” Chamber President Kirsten Fruchey said.
Fruchey said it takes “a lot of time, sweat, and tears” to put on the annual event. “I have a great group that helped me from the board and a few of the community members from the chamber as well that help in the background to get everything set up from organizing who’s going to be here from bands as well as the bounce houses and the vendors, too. And then they’re here helping make the event happen as well,” she said.
The event was sponsored by North Star BlueScope Steel, BlueScope Recycling, NORTA, City Beverage Co., K&L Trucking, First Fed of Delta, and F&M Bank.