Source, The Times Herald, Gary Puleo

UPPER MERION>>Heuser Park in King of Prussia comes alive with nonstop merriment on Saturday, July 29, for the inaugural Fun in the Sun Community Celebration, Beer Garden and Sports Jam.

Presented by the Montgomery County chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Upper Merion Parks and Rec and Philly Sports Leagues, the event kicks off at 3 p.m. and will wrap up at dusk.

With the sun hopefully beaming down on the festivities, the fun can be anything you want it to be, from pursuing athletic endeavors like volleyball and badminton, to playing wine bingo to quaffing a beer and reveling in the sounds of the Dirty Dozen Dance Band and Rhodes Less Traveled, noted Joe Brophy, spokesman for the Montgomery County chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

“The concept was to have as many features as we could for all members of the family,” Brophy said. “A place for people to be able to congregate but also to be able to keep in touch with the rest of their family members, so that they can go and do what they want to do but only be within 20 or 50 yards of family members. Getting kids out with their parents, that’s what’s important to us. Heuser Park is almost 100 acres, so around the periphery we’ll have volleyball, badminton, bocce, horseshoes, and in the center we’ll have the concert stage and a beer garden presented by Conshohocken Brewing Co. The township finally passed a resolution to allow beer gardens, and this will be one of the very first ones, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

Former NFL star Blair Thomas will be on hand to host flag football games for kids, Brophy said.

“We’ll also have Elmwood Park Zoo there with their traveling zoo, and lots of things for the kids, like pony rides, kickball, face painting. And we know the and will go over big with the adults, so then we’ll just have to figure out what else does well for when we do it again next year,” he added.

An assortment of food featuring King of Prussia’s diverse bill of fare will be available for purchase, including The Halal Guys’ authentic Middle Eastern-Mediterranean cuisine; Sicilian Delight’s Italian specialties and Tiffin Indian Cuisine, which recently joined the other eateries in the Valley Forge Plaza Shopping Center.

The concert kicks off at 6 p.m. with King of Prussia’s own Rhodes Less Traveled warming up for the Dirty Dozen Dance Band, whose song book of classic hits ranges from the Doobie Brothers, Chicago and Allman Brothers to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

All profits will be donated by The Upper Merion Park & Rec to an Upper Merion Scholar Athlete at the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Montgomery Chapter Annual Induction Celebration on Oct. 13 at the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

Tickets to the Fun in the Sun Community Celebration, Beer Garden and Sports Jam are $5 per person, $15 per family or carload, or $50 per pre-registered co-ed kickball team and are available at bit.ly/2uWPctC.

For sponsorships, tables and information call Gerri Vattimo at 484-636-3899.

Heuser Park is located at 649 W. Beidler Road, King of Prussia.