Illinois by the Arctic express, it is comforting to recall the summer evenings spent lounging in the company of fellow music lovers, allowing the sounds from the band to wash away a day’s troubles, and if you were so inclined, to hoist the beverage of your choice with old friends or new acquaintances on the blanket next door.

With a City Council vote Tuesday night, the Carbondale Park District received the Fair Days designation it had sought for the Sunset Concerts at Turley Park. This designation allows for the consumption, but not the sale, of alcohol at the concerts. The Sunset Concerts held at Shryock Auditorium do not require the city’s designation for alcohol consumption.

Congratulations to the City Council

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for remembering the Sunset Concerts at Turley Park as the majority remember them – peaceful times with friends – and not the way a minority would have them viewed – unruly crowds of drunken hooligans. A public-sponsored beer bash is the description used by one opponent to alcohol at the concerts.

With its vote Tuesday night, the Carbondale City Council gave local residents and SIUC students a whiff of those sweet summer memories without censoring the beverage.

In 1987, the City Council submitted to the fears of a minority and refused the Fair Days designation for that summer’s series of concert. George Whitehead, director of the Carbondale Park District said the result of that ban was an embarrassingly low turnout for that summer’s series of concerts in the park.

Whitehead said Turley Park concerts averaged 2,000 to 2,500 people, but the four concerts at Turley Park that summer averaged only 200 to 250 people. Meanwhile, the Shryock concerts, where alcohol was still allowed, had a larger than normal attendance.

One concert in the 1995 summer concert series experienced problems when a reggae band attracted an unusually large crowd of 5,000 to Turley Park. Carbondale police made seven arrests at that concert. Since that event the Park District has made plans to hold known, popular events on the steps of Shryock Auditorium.

The Sunset Concerts have been a

popular event in Carbondale since 1979. The original organizers of the event wanted a annual live entertainment series, offering the community and SIUC students a variety of music. This series has been a success in pulling the community together.

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The combination of community and University support has been an example of what can be done when both sides cooperate. It has been a collaborative effort that has benefited everyone.

In October, when the park district voted to request the Fair Days designation, opponents argued that the concerts were terrific events marred by alcohol, that the exposure of alcohol to children sent the children a confusing message.

That same day, Park District member Sandy Bartelsmeyer reminded us what the concerts truly mean when she said, It’s a wholesome environment to take children to, a place where there’s old people and young people, whites, blacks and people of other races enjoying the concert.

With the vote Tuesday night, the City Council has agreed with the majority and not given into fears that can be refuted with the 17 years of success the concerts have experienced.

The Daily Egyptian congratulates the Carbondale City Council and Park District for the measured and accurate responses.