Say goodbye to summer at Auburn Parks and Recreation's fourth annual Farewell Summer Block Party Friday, Aug. 2, at Town Creek Park.
Starting at 6 p.m., the city will celebrate the area's tax free holiday weekend with live music from folk band Martha's Trouble, an owl release by the Southeastern Raptor Center, an outdoor screening of the 1998 remake of "The Parent Trap," and more.
Community and special programs director Alison Hall says the first 200 families will receive free goodie bags with coupons and special offers from area merchants good for the weekend and beyond.
"Basically, we started this several years ago to kick off the sales tax free holiday weekend, and encourage Auburn families to get out, spend some time together, and then use the weekend to go ahead and shop in Auburn and get ready for back to school," Hall said.
Martha's Trouble will take the stage at 6 p.m., playing until 8 p.m. The band, comprised of Jen Slocumb and her husband Rob, has been playing together for 15 years and has been based out of the Auburn-Opelika area for 8 years.
"We're definitely more of a folk act," Jen Slocumb said. "We usually play as a duo, but sometimes we'll have a violinist. Friday you'll see us with a violinist there, so you'll see us as a trio. It's a singer-songwriter kind of style."
The band will take a short break at 7 p.m., when the Southeastern Raptor Center has scheduled its owl release to free orphan and rehabilitated owls into the wild.
Raptor rehabilitation specialist Liz Crandall says she expects four owls to be released - two great horned owls and two barred owls - but things can change depending on weather conditions and how the owls react on a given day.
"It's great to share this experience with the public, because we worked so hard," Crandall said. "On the ones that had injuries we've put a lot of time and resources into them and it's nice to be able to share this moment. That's what matters, is releasing them back into the wild where they belong."
After the band finishes playing its second set at 8 p.m., the city will play "The Parent Trap" on its large, inflatable outdoor screen.
The event is free to the public, and sponsored by Chick-fil-a on Magnolia Avenue.
"It's a great event that the city's doing," Slocumb said. "It's going to be a lot of fun. So bring the family. It's hard to believe that it's the end of the summer, so you might as well enjoy the rest of it while you can."
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