By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – Stage coach rides and a craft beer expo will be among the new features this year during the 44th annual Potsdam Chamber of Commerce Summer Festival.

From Thursday to Saturday, July 14 to 16, Market Street between Elm and Main will be shut down to traffic to make way for almost non-stop music on the Northern Music and Video Main Stage as Potsdam welcomes locals, college alumni and visitors.

Sidewalk sales and other special attractions in the downtown core, in Ives Park, at Pine Street Arena and around the village will also keep people busy and entertained.

“I just like the whole atmosphere of Summer Festival,” said Chamber Executive Director Marylee Ballou, even though it means a lot of work for her. “Everyone comes out, and everyone finds something to enjoy.”

Rides in a stage coach are new this year, thanks to Tim Hatch and co-sponsor North Country Neighbors. The coach used to be one of the attractions at Frontier Town, an amusement park at Glens Falls which closed in 1998. But the coach, spiffed up for Summer Festival, will be pulled by Hatch’s Percherons to take people for rides Thursday and Friday evenings and most of Saturday.

The Potsdam Craft Beer Expo, a series of beer tastings organized by accountant Larry Reece, who has received approval from state liquor authorities, will feature three seatings in Fall Island Park, behind Evans and Whites Hardware on Maple Street, from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 4:30 on Saturday. As many as 70 different beers will be available in three-ounce portions. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Sergi’s, the IGA, CJ’s, and at Larry Reece’s office, or on the way into the expo. This is not an official Chamber of Commerce event.

Other highlights this year will be the annual parade Saturday evening at 5 p.m. downtown. Parade floats will come from the Potsdam Elks, the Potsdam Humane Society, and Building Blocks Day Care, and three floats from Norwood, from the Hobby Shop, Perry’s Big M, and the Hometown Café.

Marching or riding in the parade will be the Gouverneur High School Marching band, the Red Hens Potsdam and Norwood chapter of the Red Hat Society, and the St. Lawrence County Dairy Princess and her court.

After the parade, at about 7:15 Saturday, the exciting Run to the River will simulate a fire emergency where firefighters on three trucks have to get from the fire station to the Raquette River from different directions and compete to be the first team to start pumping.

SUNY Potsdam and Clarkson University alumni will also be back for the events, music, and the chance to see each other and friends made while they were here for school.

Thursday, July 14

Village merchants will bring their wares outside on racks and shelves for the sidewalk sales. The Elks will sell barbecue chicken starts at 11 a.m., and the Potsdam IGA will serve smoked pulled pork. Other food attractions will include the German Wurst House, a familiar vendor that didn’t make it last year.

Music on the Main Stage begins at noon with acoustic folk/rock from Ed Trainor, and continues right through to 9:30 p.m., including Oshier Country at 4 p.m., Hazel Pearl Band at 5, Ten Speed Taxi at 6, and 6 Foot Midget at 7:30.

Other highlights include the opening reception at 5 p.m. for the new exhibit at the Potsdam Public Museum for The Cover Up: Coverlets, Looms and Spinning Wheels; the start of the 10th annual Tour de Potsdam 5K Walk/Run sponsored by the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative; and the Potsdam Rescue Squad’s ice cream social featuring the Norwood Brass Firemen starting at 7 p.m. at the Ives Park gazebo.

Friday, July 15

At 10 a.m. businesses again trot out their wares for sidewalk sales. Performing downtown will be singer/songwriters Kevin Irwin, at 10 a.m., and Christian Parker, at 11 a.m., at the Main Stage. Stellar guitarist Paul Meyers will play Brazilian-flavored and jazz pieces at 1 p.m.; Tap to Toe Studio has a dance recital at 2 p.m.; belly dancing begins at 2:30; country singer Lacey Stoddard plays at 3; Dan Hammond plays steel drums at 4 p.m. before he conducts a workshop in Ives Park at 5:15.

Other highlights include a concert by the Potsdam Community Band in Ives Park at 6:30, and Dale Hobson will sign copies of his book of poetry at the St. Lawrence County Arts Council gallery at 7:30 p.m.

Friday evening, music begins at 5 p.m. with Kyle Tupper playing pop, rock and original tunes; Northbound plays classic rock at 7; rock from Thanks But No Thanks is at 8; and DRGNFLY plays from 9 to 11 p.m.; and North Country veteran rockers Double Axel play at Maxfields Friday and Saturday nights for their annual Summer Festival gigs, this year marking their 40th anniversary with reunion performances from former band members and guests.

Saturday, July 16

On Saturday, downtown fills and Ives Park is jammed as musicians, crafters, flea market vendors, and proud owners of classic cars all set up in the park next to the river, to begin at 9 a.m.

Also at 9 a.m. is the Potsdam Police Department car auction at the impound lot on the Hatch Road out Rt. 11B, and the fundraising Rotary Club Duck Pluck starts along the river at 9 a.m., concluding at 2:30 p.m.

At 9 a.m., a series of demonstrations begins at the gazebo in the park, including yoga, the game Medieval Combat, Jazzercise, and Zumba.

And the Orchestra of Northern New York’s Junque Sale opens at 9 a.m. in Pine Street Arena, along with the CORC Thrift Store’s sale. “The orchestra did so well there last year they wanted to stay there this year,” said Ballou.

At 10 a.m., sidewalk sales begin, as does the police auction downtown, the Fall Island Fair at Trinity Church, the Friends of the Library Book Sale, and the Farmers’ Market. From 11 to 2, lunch at Trinity Church’s Gourmet Café is served. High Peaks Winery will have a wine tasting at Village Wines & Liquors, in the rear side of the Prosh Building at 2A Main St., from 2 to 4 p.m.

At 10 a.m. music starts at the Main Stage with Christian contemporary musicians John and Andrew Eastmond. They are followed by Minor Swing gypsy jazz, jazz with Crescent Street Jam, Latin ensemble Piquant!, and Kickin Kountry Cloggers, before a magic show at 2:30 p.m. with Rich Tenace and local kids.

Classic rockers 80 Proof play at 3 p.m., followed by the Acoustic Brothers at 4 p.m., and then there is a break at 5 p.m. for the parade and the Run to the River.

Music in Ives Park on Saturday includes Jack Kelley’s Little Big Band at 12:30, followed by singer/songwriter Rick Williams, and old-time fiddle jam led by Gretchen Koehler, and from 3:30 to 4:30, concert band music with the New Horizons Band.

Saturday evening music at the Main Stage is classic rock from Plan B from 7:15 to 9 p.m. and from The Debt from 9 to 11.

Once again the first block of Market Street will be blocked off to vehicle traffic beginning Thursday morning, so drivers are asked to move their vehicles from there by 6 a.m.

The Chamber wants to remind attendees that the blocked-off portion of Market Street is for pedestrians; bicycles and skateboards will not be allowed. There is plenty of free parking in the municipal lots on Main Street, Elm Street, Beal Street, and between Raymond and Depot streets.

Articles and a complete calendar of events are in the Potsdam Summer Festival tabloid included with this newspaper, and events are listed in the calendar here and online at NorthCountryNow.com