Port OKs contract extension

Rockin’ on the River gets two more years

Rockin’ on the River, the summertime weekly concert series that draws thousands of people to downtown Lorain, will have a home at Black River Landing for at least two more years.

The Lorain Port Authority board this week voted to extend the use agreement for the weekly shows at Black River Landing, the Port’s riverfront festival site.

The contract is a two-year extension of Rockin’ on the River’s most recent use agreement, which started in May 2017 and expires Sept. 5, 2019.

With the extension, the bands will play on for summers in 2020 and 2021.

The concert series pays $10,000 a summer to use Black River Landing, according to the contract.

Locking in the concert series is a good idea for the next few years, said Lorain Port Authority Executive Director Tom Brown.

Concert series organizer Bob Earley already requested the extension, which was allowed in the contract, Brown said.

“Bob’s energized, he’s completely excited about this year,” Brown said. “He’s pretty much got this season built out, and definitely would like to come back in 2020 and 2021.”

Port board Chairman Brad Mullins and members Steve Bansek, Barb Cook, Roberto Davila, Matt Kusznir, Carl Nielsen, Neil Sommers, Jeff Zellers and Alan Zgonc agreed.

Their vote was unanimous and the contract extension was the agenda item that prompted the least amount of discussion in the board’s Feb. 12 meeting.

The extension was not a surprise, although Earley said he did not know it would come up for a vote at the board’s Feb. 12 meeting.

“The truth of the matter is, we had such a phenomenal relationship with the Port,” he said. “The whole idea is for the next couple of years to keep it copacetic.

“It just shows the kind of respect that we have for them and they have for us.”

Since landing in Lorain in 2015, the concert series has grown in popularity every summer.

The shows, usually on Friday nights and sometimes on Saturdays, draw several thousand people to the city.

“We love Lorain,” said Earley, who coordinates the concerts with his wife, Sandy. “I think they love us.”

Adding time to the Black River Landing use agreement shows the stability of the concert series.

It also protects Rockin’ on the River and the Port from rumors or bogus calls about the relationship between the two, Earley said.

“The bottom line is, it keeps us attached at the hip,” he said. “It’s just a

“He’s pretty much got this season built out, and definitely would like to come back in 2020 and 2021.” — Lorain Port Authority Executive Director Tom Brown

great thing. They respect us and we respect them.”

As for the summer 2019 concert lineup, Earley said he likely will announce it in March, as he has in previous years.

Concert goers who have come to recognize Earley’s enthusiastic personality and Friday night energy, should not worry he will be gone anytime soon.

Earley said he has contemplated a time in the future when he and his wife may retire from Rockin’ on the River, or he may stick around until he’s 90 years old.

But he said if they do step down, it will not hurt Lorain.

“The whole idea is that we want to leave it better than we found it,” Earley said.