Last time the Admiral Neighborhood Association met, we brought you first word of plans for a summer outdoor-concert series at Hiawatha Community Center. Tonight, as ANA gathered for its monthly meeting at Admiral Church, concert series organizer Katy Walum provided updates – read on for what’s in the works, dates and times, and how you can help:

Katy says the venue is final and the dates/times are final for the Admiral Neighborhood Summer Concerts in the Park – six consecutive Thursday nights, July 23 through August 27, 6:30 pm – and she’s pretty sure she’s got the act for that last date locked in (West Seattle Big Band, which will play the same spot before the series, in its traditional Hi-Yu Concert in the Park show, July 14). But regarding who will fill the first five spots – she told the group she’s got “lots of interest … quality acts have come forward.”

One sticking point right now: Those “quality acts” aren’t free. Not expensive, either – $200 to $500 for a show, Katy says – but even at that, it adds up; she is estimating the series will have about $3,000 in expenses for bands and promotion — Hiawatha’s free, as is some of the equipment it will provide – so that’s the minimum fundraising goal right now.

So she’s starting to make the rounds of Admiral-area businesses, looking for sponsors for the concert series. (Individuals are welcome to become sponsors too, she said.) A sponsorship-seeking letter is in circulation.

And Katy’s also looking for a few more bands to add to the pool of potential candidates – it’s a diverse array already, from Latin Jazz to a Neil Young cover band — but she’d love to see some bluegrass and R&B in there too, she said tonight.

If you are interested in a sponsorship – OR happen to be involved with one of those types of bands – you can e-mail her at katy.walum@gmail.com. Other help welcome too; as ANA president Mark Wainwright put it tonight, “This is a big deal.”

Next step: She’ll be meeting with the Hiawatha Community Center Advisory Board on May 25th. And she’s hoping half the $3000 baseline funding will be raised before performers are chosen to fill out the slate.

More news from tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, coming up in separate reports.