2022 Midsummer Issue

Music Under the Stars
Returns to the Windlass with
Eclectic Concert Series
Nikki Briar at the
Windlass in July.
A couple enjoys a dance as the
sun sets at a recent show.
Marietta and Peter Domanico
take a turn on the dance floor.
Captain Eric and the Shipwrecks
at their July performance.
As the sun sets, the dancing begins.
Story by MELISSA SUMMERS
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
Nothing says “Lake Life” more than an
evening with great music mingling
perfectly with waterfront breezes, tasty bites
on your plate and a cold drink in hand.
To Marietta and Peter Domanico of Mount
Arlington, it’s about holding on to a part of
their youth. As high school sweethearts, they
were part of a swing band that played in the
Catskills. And they appreciated a good tune.
“A long time ago we used to go to hotels
that had bands, and we used to dance,” said
Peter, 88.
Now, they’ve moved on to jazz and opera,
but there’s something about that fresh air
that inspired them to purchase season passes to
a local concert series. “I love the lake, the view is
gorgeous,” Marietta, 89, said. “You don’t think
you’re in Lake Hopatcong, you feel like you’re in
Maine or New Hampshire.”
With its eclectic styles of music—mostly
original tunes—and ticketed shows, this concert
series also doesn’t feel like the entertainment
experience typically found at restaurants and
bars.
For the fourth time since debuting in 2017,
the Windlass is hosting Music Under the Stars,
weekly concerts at the Lake Hopatcong restaurant
featuring 13 area artists and bands.
Normally closed on Wednesdays, the
lakefront establishment transforms
into a lively outdoor venue, with
reserved seating and a simple menu,
while still allowing most of the
regular staff the night off.
“It just seemed to be an excellent
way for people to enjoy the lake and
our patio area in a more relaxed, less
pressurized kind of environment
where they could just sit and listen to
some music and take in the scenery
and talk with their friends, rather
than the more rushed environment
of having food at a restaurant,” said
Windlass owner Alice Szigethy, 56.
Co-event planner Lynn Keenan, 60,
said the atmosphere at the Windlass
makes the event so attractive. “We’re
on the lake… and there are great
sunsets,” she said. “We start it at 7
p.m. so halfway through you’re getting
this phenomenal sunset.”
After a two-year hiatus due to the
pandemic, Szigethy said music lovers who may
have been concerned about coming out to hear
music in a typically cramped indoor location
welcomed the idea to take in some great local
talent in the open air.
“This year I think people were very happy for
an opportunity to get outside,” she said. “So, I
think it was very well received. A lot of our shows
are close to, if not completely, sold out from when
we introduced the tickets late in the spring.”
In April and May, Music Under the Stars
opened up reservations for full-season passes (13
shows), mini passes (seven shows) and individual
shows. Patrons could also reserve special seating
on one of several covered wooden dockside
gliders.
For $15 per show, ticket holders get a reserved
seat, music and a selection of non-alcoholic
beverages. They are also offered the opportunity
to pre-order from a light menu of platters created
specifically for the event. “It’s sharable finger
food like a charcuterie board, dips, sandwiches…
It’s part of the concert, they are sharing at their
table with their party,” Keenan said.
More than half of the event’s 125-seat capacity
was sold as season and mini passes, according to
Keenan. Groups of four or more are generally
seated together. Singles and couples are grouped
at tables.
Co-event planner Donna Butler, 52, said the
cozy setting creates new bonds among guests.
“When you are sitting with other people you
might not have met before, we notice friendships
being formed,” she said.
“We have four or five groups of people that
have been doing this since the first year,” Keenan
added. “This one family, the parents still live up
here, the kids are somewhere else, but this brings
them together one night a week.”
There’s also a regular crowd of boaters who
drop anchor just beyond the docks to take in the
entertainment, according to Keenan.
The Windlass aims to offer a range of music
styles throughout the concert series, ensuring
season subscribers hear something different each
week, said Szigethy.
“That wide array also appeals to people who
just want to come in and hear one band that they
particularly like,” she said. “It is a mix, so we try
to cater to as many people as possible.”
One of the bands that brought people
specifically looking to see them was Lake
Hopatcong favorites Captains of Leisure. They
opened the series on June 22 with a blast of
horns and percussion. The eight-piece ensemble
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Midsummer 2022