GeT Ready To Rock!

Doyle-Whiting Band kicks off Johnson Park summer series Monday

By Russ TaRBy

Contributing Writer

The Liverpool Is The Place Summer Concert Committee was forced to cancel its entire 2020 summer concert series and most of its 2021 series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After local governments lifted bans on public gatherings last year, the committee came back strongly, scheduling 22 free concerts.

This year’s 37th annual summer concert series got underway with a special noon concert on Memorial Day, May 29, and will return to its usual Monday-Wednesday evening schedule, starting with the Doyle-Whiting Band at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, The twice-weekly concerts will continue through Aug. 17.

Electric guitarist Mark Doyle and saxophonistsinger Joe Whiting first worked together in the band called Jukin’ Bone which was signed to RCA Records when they were both in their late-teens.

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On May 15, Drakos Pediatric Urgent Care opened its doors in suite 140 at 8100 Oswego Rd. in Liverpool.

The opening comes after founder and CEO Heather Bianchi decided to return to her hometown.

Bianchi was most recently living in Boston.

Upon moving back to the area, Bianchi had the idea to open this new facility after her own child was sick with COVID while Bianchi was working.

Her daughter was helped by a pediatric urgent care and their utilization of Telehealth visits.

Bianchi brings her experience working in healthcare to this new venture.

In 2020 Bianchi founded “Cinemedics.”

The company was responsible for keeping people safe on movie sets during the COVID-19 pandemic with testing and risk management.

Now back in the Liverpool area, Bianchi said she wanted to contribute to healthcare locally.

Several years later, they formed the Doyle-Whiting Band with Robbie Spagnoletti on drums, Pat DeSalvo on bass and Tony Schimizzi on keys.

“It was a pretty good concept and a pretty good band that recorded two albums that morphed into a recording unit called BackBone Slip,” Whiting recalled.

On June 5, Doyle and Whiting will be accompanied here by second guitarist Terry Quill, bassist Brian Barrigar and drummer Frank DeFonda.

Both Doyle and Whiting are members of the Syracuse Area Music Awards Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, June 7 the free concerts continue at Johnson Park with After Six performing jazz standards.

Many Liverpool-area musicians will be featured in several of the concerts. Music journalist and bandleader Chuck Schiele, who lives on Oswego Street, will helm his eclectic band, Quatro, on June 14. The

“I started this business to help my hometown,” she said.

Many of her coworkers are from the Syracuse area, and they all shared Bianchi’s vision to give back to their community by opening the urgent care.

“Ninty-five percent of the staff here are from Syracuse and worked in emergency services,” Bianchi said.

Bianchi has established a goal of giving patients the necessary resources they need to continue their care and she wants to provide additional care to those who need it when their physician might not be available.

“We are here when parents and kids need it most,” she said.

Bianchi and her staff are also ready to work closely with Golisano’s children’s hospital located at the Upstate Medical Center to provide the best possible care for every patient that comes through their doors.

According to a press release shared prior to the

Liverpool Community Concert band will perform patriotic tunes on July 3.

The Stan Colella Orchestra, featuring Liverpool-bred trumpeter Rob Robson, will play swing standards on July 18. Liverpool restaurateur Scott Schimpff – co-owner of Limp Lizard Barbecue –will pluck the bass guitar with the Jamie Notarthomas Band on July 26.

On Aug. 2, the park audience will enjoy Liverpool’s own Power of Two, husband-and-wife guitarists Patrick and Gwen McCarroll.

And on Aug. 14, the Ma- facility opening, Drakos Pediatric Urgent Care has more than 20 physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, and other healthcare professionals.

This team provides on-site radiology with child-friendly x-rays, a COLA-accredited comprehensive on-site laboratory, treatment for more severe conditions, and minor orthopedic care to provide fiberglass splints for fractures.

The press release goes on to share the vision and guiding principles with which Bianchi decided to establish this facility.

“Inclusion is a core value for Drakos,” according to the press release. “We are committed to understanding and welcoming every patient. The new pediatric facility is designed to serve people with disabilities and special needs, is ADA-compliant, and ready to serve patients who are non-mobile or home-bound.” rio DeSantis Orchestra will spotlight vocalist Keith Condon who grew up here on Fourth Street along with opera singer Nick Blaney and saxophonist/ arranger Joe Riposo, who taught at Liverpool schools for decades. sponsors sought

Since 1985 when the park’s amphitheater was constructed, the Liverpool is The Place Committee has staged more than 820 concerts there. The committee, now chaired by Gwen McCarroll, sells popcorn, soda and water at the concerts which routinely draw audi-

Taking the whole family into account, Drakos is also able to provide wellness care to the pediatric patient’s parents or guardians at the same time as the pediatric patient’s appointment through hydration, vitamins, and other fluid infusion services— helping keep parents and other caregivers healthy.

Building on Bianchi’s experience with Cinemedics, Drakos also provides mobile laboratory and medical services for concierge medicine, senior citizens aging-in-place, and underserved populations who face barriers to accessing healthcare.

The company operates two custom-designed mobile labs and opened its first brick-and-mortar laboratory in East Syracuse last year.

The culture Bianchi created with Cinemedics has carried into her new business and is the inspiration behind the Drakos logo.

The logo represents luck and the adventurous attitude Bianchi and her team look to bring forward ences of more than 400.

Businesses interested in sponsoring a concert this year should contact LITP Treasurer Colleen Gunnip at colleen.gunnip@yahoo. com or 315-652-5029.

“Without the financial support of the local businesses in our community this concert series would not be possible,” Gunnip said. The LITP Committee is a sub-committee of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

The 2023 concert series is generously supported by a grant administered by CNY Arts and funded by the New York State Coun- cil on the Arts.

Performance schedule Free concerts 7 p.m. at Johnson Park, June 5 –Aug. 16. 315-457-3895.

Liverpoolistheplace. com

Monday, June 5: DoyleWhiting Band. – Rock and originals.

Wednesday, June 7: After Six. – Jazz.

Monday, June 12: The FabCats. – British invasion.

Wednesday, June 14: Chuck Schiele’s Quatro. –Americana.

Monday, June 19: Mood with the new urgent care.

In addition to providing the best possible care, the Drakos team also want to innovate and help move the field forward in medical technology to further assist their patients.

Bianchi said she is familiar with the staff shortages that exist in the medical field and has looked for ways to mitigate those issues as well.

“You leverage tech, to make up for staff shortages,” she said.

Technology is important to the convenience and accessibility to patients according to

Marketing Director of Drakos Pediatrics Adam Herringshaw.

“We use technology to provide to more people in rural areas. It’s the return of the house-call in a different way,” he said.

The urgent care is now open seven days a week from 2 p.m. to midnight and located in Liverpool at Suite 140, 8100 Oswego Rd.

For more information about Drakos Pediatric Urgent Care, and all Drakos services in CNY, visit DrakosDynamics.co m