Concerts Strike the Right Note : Warner Park: Because of the growth in the series’ popularity, crowds of 3,500 to 5,000 are expected at each of this summer’s 16 weekly shows.

Harry Warner’s dream was that one day the 20 acres in Woodland Hills he donated to the city of Los Angeles would serve as a cultural site for the San Fernando Valley.

With this summer’s first concert set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the popularity of Warner Park’s free summer concert series has grown to a level that would have made Warner proud, said Marilyn Hankins, executive director of the Valley Cultural Center.

Organizers expect regular turnouts of 3,500 to 5,000 people at each of this season’s 16 weekly concerts, and this year the center is completing plans for a $1.2-million permanent stage to be completed by May, 1992, Hankins said.

“He and his family wanted this land to be used for cultural pursuits,” Hankins said of Warner, now deceased and one of the four brothers who founded Warner Bros. Studios. “I wish he were here to see how well we’ve done with his land.”

The land was donated to the city’s Recreation and Parks Department in 1967. Seven years later, the city formed a committee to arrange various West Valley celebrations in connection with the country’s 200th birthday.

The committee decided to form the Valley Cultural Center, a nonprofit organization run by volunteers who would plan activities to meet the growing cultural needs of the San Fernando Valley. The center’s first activity was the Bicentennial Summer Concert Series at Warner Park, which at that time was not yet being used for cultural activities.

“That was the birth of the summer concerts in the park,” said Hankins, who for the past 11 years has helped organize the series. “We had three or four groups and no plans to continue the series after that year.”

Instead, the concert series was so popular that the Valley Cultural Center became flooded with donations and requests to bring back more entertainers the following summer. By 1980, the center had agreed to make the concert series a permanent summer event. With the exception of two summers in the early 1980s when the series was held at Shadow Ranch Park while Warner Park’s landscaping was redone, the concerts have taken place each summer for 16 years.

“Most people in the Valley Cultural Center are involved because they are so thrilled with the summer concerts,” Hankins said. “It’s something many of us really believe strongly in; a chance for anyone who is interested to enjoy a free Sunday afternoon of music in a beautiful setting.”

Woodland Hills attorney Dan Bergman and his family attended their first summer concert at Warner Park several years ago. Afterward, Bergman walked up to Hankins, who was taking donations and handing out concert information at a table near the stage.

“I asked her if there was anything I could do to help out,” Bergman said. “I was overwhelmed that such an entertaining family oriented program like that existed.”

The Bergman family began attending the concerts on a weekly basis, bringing picnic dinners and telling their friends about the diverse schedule of performers. In 1990, after serving as one of the center’s director for two years, Bergman was asked to serve as president of the board.

This year, Valley resident and performer Frankie Avalon is honorary chairman of the Valley Cultural Center.

“This is my neighborhood, and I want to help the community with something so great as these summer concerts,” said Avalon, a Calabasas resident. “Besides, someone needs to see that the ‘50s are represented.”

“We’re starting to attract big-name entertainers to help us spread the word about the summer concert series and other programs the center offers,” Hankins said. “It’s one way we can see that our programs are really reaching the community.”

Bergman and other business leaders involved in the concert series say they see the program as a time when Valley residents can come together and get to know each other.

“Because of the success of these summer concerts, we’ve been able to branch into other musical programs,” said Bergman, who has helped develop center-sponsored activities, including one that pays for music teachers to visit public schools, thereby offsetting cultural program cuts in the Los Angeles Unified School District budget.

“These concerts and other music programs are a way of giving something back to the community,” he said.

Art Smith, president of Voit Management Co., based in Woodland Hills, agrees with Bergman and others who have given time and money to keep the concert series going.

“This kind of program actually enhances the residential and business communities and brings them together in a unique way,” Smith said. “It truly is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”

The series now has a budget of more than $100,000 raised from private donations. Hankins said that without the financial backing from Voit Management, Prudential and other Warner Center businesses, as well as the support from City Councilwoman Joy Picus and others, it would be impossible to keep the concert series going. Costs include advertising for the series and hiring performers.

“Occasionally, we will retain a group for free, but it is a rarity,” said Hankins, who is the only paid employee at the Valley Cultural Center.

Two years ago, Tony Butala, a Woodland Hills resident and longstanding member of the Lettermen, attended a concert at Warner Park. When it ended, Butala approached Hankins and offered to perform with his group the following year free of charge. More than 7,500 people attended the concert that was slated as the grand finale of the 1990 series.

This year, the series will open with the Lettermen, known for their numerous pop hits from more than 50 albums, including, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “Going Out of My Mind.”

“I’m going to tell my entertainer friends with roots in the Valley to come out and do something free for this community,” Butala said. “This is something that is dear to my heart.”

Private donations and money from a state Quimby grant, designated specifically for parks, will finance the planned 60-by-52-foot permanent stage, a sophisticated sound system and a paved patio area, Hankins said. Performers now sing atop a converted flatbed truck that serves as a temporary stage.

“The most exciting thing is seeing the community get involved in these concerts,” Bergman said. “We need the help of everyone to keep it going.”

This summer, the concert series, which continues each Sunday afternoon through Sept. 15, is more ethnically and culturally diverse than in past years, Hankins said. Concerts will include pop, jazz, Scotch-Irish, Spanish, bluegrass, country, orchestra, reggae and other entertainers.

“This kind of program is really what Harry Warner and his family envisioned when they donated this land to the city,” Hankins said.

Kingsbury is a West Hills writer.