First off, I am warning you that this is a long e-mail, but it is a big week. Tomorrow is your chance to help set a world record. This week's band, the LARGE Midgets will attempt to break the world record for the most attendees at an Uptown Friday Nights event. I doubt the folks from the Guinness Book will be counting, but we sure will be. There are several reasons why we can pull this off:

1) It is BBQ roundup weekend, meaning that the downtown area will be full of potential customers. It's a great pairing: Get some food, come to the park, drink some beer, dance around, repeat until 8:00, go back for more BBQ. You can't go wrong.

2) In a weekend chock full of things to do we are #1! Section D in today's Cedar Rapids Gazette (page 1D - in the Accent section) the LARGE Midgets at Uptown Friday Nights is listed as the #1 thing to do this weekend!

3) The "Greenstomper Theory of Weather and Outdoor Concerts" has proven true for a third week. Our Thursday golf league, appropriately named the Greenstompers, has been rained out yet again. This means that the weather for Uptown Friday Nights will be near perfect. Normally this would be disappointing, but since I golf poorly it is a fair trade.

Aside from great music (as if that weren't enough), the LARGE Midgets are (in)famous for providing free candy for the crowd, and for giving prizes away on stage during the show. I have been assured by the band that there will be extra special giveaways for our Uptown Friday Nights fans. Katheryn Foxx from Mix 96 1/2 will be on stage to announce the third big winner in the Mix 96 1/2 Summer Of Fun. Katheryn is famous for playing with Swing Crew on stage, let's see what she has in store for us with the LARGE Midgets. Our guest pourers this week will be from InteliStaf Healthcare, McLeod USA, New York Life, Principal Financial Group, and Ryan Companies.

While I've got your attention, I'd like to mention a few bits of news:

* Be sure to sign our petition to expand Uptown Friday Nights. This is very important as we begin planning next year's event. We need to demonstrate to the city council that the community is behind Uptown Friday Nights. Every signature is important, so tell your friends to sign the petition as well.

* On June 29th we will be having AT&T; Broadband at the park taping the entire Swing Crew show. The show will be rebroadcast during the month of July on Cable Channel 10.

* Also at the June 29th show the Cedar Rapids Jaycees will be presenting three large donations. We look forward to the opportunity to publicly give back to the community that has been so good to us.

* Remember to listen Mix 96 1/2 every Friday morning during the 8:00 hour. Each week representatives from the Jaycees will be on the air with Gary and Kristen to promote Uptown Friday Nights. Tom Roeder and Steve Kappler from the LARGE Midgets will be on tomorrow, and will continue our new tradition of giving away FREE PASSES to listeners!

- Nathan Franzen
[email protected]