by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
This year’s Rock ‘n’ Block party in Sartell, Aug. 8, will offer completely new fun activities: a homebrewing contest, a bean-bag tournament, as well as music by the Fabulous Armadillos.
The fun will start at 3 p.m. and continue until midnight. Also new this year is the party’s location, which was changed from south Sartell to an area at the Sauk Prairie Medical Center in Sartell’s Medical Campus, across from Hennen’s Furniture just off of Hwy. 15.
Admission to the event is $5 per person. The homebrewing contest and the bean-bag tournament start at 4 p.m. The Fabulous Armadillos will start performing at 9 p.m. and play until midnight.
Those participating in the bean-bag and homebrewing contests have already registered, but they should arrive at about 3:30 p.m. to set up and to learn to which bean-bag brackets they’ve been assigned.
The homebrewing contest involves beer that contestants brewed at home. Judges will decide which is best by tasting samples.
Rock ‘n’ Block, an annual party presented by the Sartell Chamber of Commerce, is sponsored by BankVista and about a dozen other major sponsors, both Sartell ones and others in the greater St. Cloud area.
The Fabulous Armadillos, a local band, is one of the most popular acts in the history of central Minnesota – and beyond. The eight-member band, which began in 2006, started by playing “theme” shows at Pioneer Place on Fifth in St. Cloud, where they gained an enormous widespread following, not to mention critical raves. Some of their theme concerts are “Woodstock,” “Motown,” “Singer/Songwriters,” “Stadium Rock,” “One-Hit Wonders” and more. The band has also been hailed for its tribute concerts: The Doobie Brothers (“Takin’ it to the Streets”); The Eagles (“Takin’ it to the Limit); and Pink Floyd (“Floydian Slip”).
The Fabulous Armadillos play many concerts throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest and as far away as Cabo St. Lucas, Mexico.
Its members – not counting occasional guest performers – are Greg Armstrong, keyboards; Paul Diethelm, guitar; Pamela McNeill, vocals; Jay O’Donnell, drums; Mike Krietzer, sax; Billy Scherer, vocals; Pat Thorn, trumpet; and Mike Zeleny, bass.
The members of the Fabulous Armadillos are (left to right) Jay O’Donnell, Paul Diethelm, Billy Scherer, Pat Thorn, Pamela McNeill, Mike Krietzer, Greg Armstrong and Mike Zeleny.
