Half a million patrons for Village Green series

NORWOOD — The Norwood Village Green Concert Series is likely to reach a milestone this year when the 500,000th audience member strolls onto the grounds.

There will be no bells and whistles, just the satisfaction of founding program director Joseph M. Liotta, who has an unusual way of crunching numbers to determine attendance.

"I do it by the passing-of-the-hat donations," he said.

All concerts in the series are free, but rely on pass-the-hat donations. The series was conceived and co-founded by Mr. Liotta and his late wife, Harriet, in 1974.

All programs are presented at the Norwood Village Green band shell unless inclement weather forces the move to either St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, the Norwood-Norfolk High School auditorium or the Norwood Municipal Building.

Originally, Mr. Liotta figured $1 was raised for every four audience members. Then, it got better, with $1 raised for every three people. Last year, he said there were a few times where he got $1 per two people.

He said the average attendance is around 1,600 people.

"But we've had as high as 3,500," he said.

That mark was reached in 1990 when the popular Canadian country act the Family Brown appeared.

"We raised $1,700 that night," Mr. Liotta said.

He has noticed certain quirks about his pass-the-hat calculations. "People feel like they have to give more when the concerts move inside," he said.

Mr. Liotta said attendance was down a bit last year, a fact he attributed to high gasoline prices.

The series is supported with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau, the town of Potsdam and the village of Norwood. It is also supported by the private sector, which accounts for its main source of income through foundations, corporations, civic associations and individuals.

Mr. Liotta has gotten a jump on the series' 2010 season because of the state's budget crunch. He said that state officials told him he could apply for funds in April or he could wait until September, when the state funding would likely be more iffy.

"I scrambled around when I was in Florida," the snowbird said. "We got next year's program already done, which is interesting to me."