Email This   Larger Font      Print This   Smaller Font Advertisement   If you go What: Hot July Nights with Peter Frampton and the Beach Boys in concert; Symphony in the Park, featuring the Vancouver Symphony and Miss America 2002 Katie Harmon. When: Hot July Nights: July 18-19. Gates open 4 p.m. each day. July 18: 6 p.m. Norman Sylvester, 8 p.m. Peter Frampton. July 19: 6 p.m. Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts, 8 p.m. Beach Boys. July 20: 3 p.m. Symphony in the Park. Where: Esther Short Park, corner of West Eighth and Columbia streets, downtown Vancouver. Cost: $35 July 18 and 19; $5, $10 family July 20. Information: Call 503-706-4331; hotjulynights.com. *** What: Baby Boomer Bikers Rally. When: Noon to 11 p.m. July 18, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 19. Cost: Registration $30 per rider. Viewing is free. Information: Call 360-260-0275; usa-babyboomerbikers.com. Paul Winters gears up for the Baby Boomer Biker Rally at Esther Short Park.(Steven Lane, The Columbian)

Friday, July 18, 2008
By Mike Bailey

It’s a marriage made in baby boomer heaven: concerts featuring music legends Peter Frampton and the Beach Boys, and a gathering of motorcyclists who grew up with their songs. 

Hot July Nights kicks off July 18 in Vancouver’s Esther Short Park with Frampton in concert and continues with the Beach Boys on July 19 and a concert featuring the Vancouver Symphony and 2002 Miss America Katie Harman on July 20.

The combination was the vision of Vancouver’s Paul Winters, creator of the Festival of Trees fundraiser that brings in up to $250,000 a year for the Vancouver Rotary Club.

Winters said he wanted to create an event for motorcycle enthusiasts that also featured music.

“Almost every bike rally has major musical entertainment, and Hot July Nights gives those that want to settle back and enjoy music a place to do that,” Winters said.

The rally, which will raise funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington,  will include a riding tour of Clark and Cowlitz counties, and vendors offering services and items for motorcycle enthusiasts.

Winters said he expects about 200 bikes for the rally, but he has arranged for up to 500 in the downtown area south of Esther Short Park.

Frampton and the Beach Boys have been featured acts at Hot July Nights in past years. Promoter K.C. Fuller said a crowd of 5,800 watched the Beach Boys two years ago, the largest crowd in the event’s six-year history.