20th Annual Saginaw On Stage Music Festival

Since its inception 20-years ago when musical siblings Dave & Nick Oppermann of the legendary New Reformation Jazz Band assembled the very first Saginaw On Stage Music Festival back in 2003, this timeless showcase of local & regional talent has evolved into the Rotary Club of Saginaw’s premier fundraising event, benefitting more than 30 non-profits, social programs and first responder organizations, with a total of $300,000 plus reinvested overall into the Saginaw community.

Designed as an expansive music festival to showcase multiple genres of divergent performing artists throughout the Great Lakes Bay region, on Saturday, April 5^th the 20^th  Annual Saginaw On Stage Music Festival will once again return to Downtown Saginaw’s historic Saginaw Club for the fourth year in a row, featuring another excellent  line-up of familiar and new regional talent generously donating their musical artistry for charity. This year doors will open at 4:45 PM and the festival will start at 5:00 PM and run until 10:00 PM.

While in previous years as many as 45 musical acts were featured upon multiple stages on all three floors of The Saginaw Club, this year organizers are scaling back to feature 24 acts while also increasing the performances times for each artist.   

According to Saginaw On Stage festival co-chairman & coordinator Melissa Spranger, “Our committee wanted to give each act more time to perform because it gets a little chaotic with so many musical acts performing at the same time, plus with the shorter sets just when people are getting into the groove the bands are forced to finish, so this year all bands on the top floor will have 90-minutes of performance time, while the second floor bands will have 50-minute sets and the solo artists on the main floor will now have 30-minutes instead of only 15-minutes for their performances.”

“Former festival chairman Bill Harman did a great job with stage coordination over the last couple of years, so this year we were able to recruit Pat Shelley to coordinate the Main Floor stage, Eva Stone will handle the two second floor stages, and on the main floor we have Tony & Lisa Bader handling that stage along with Tana Michaels handling the Artist Tribute stage,” notes Melissa. “They’ve all done a great job and the Rotary is deeply appreciative of their contributions.”

This year all proceeds from Saginaw On Stage will benefit the Saginaw Community Foundation's Crayola Park Improvement Fund to raise funds to renovate and update Crayola Park, which is located at 1739 Fordney Drive in Saginaw.

“The Children’s playground known as Crayola Park was originally built back in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a joint construction project spearheaded by the Randall Wickes Foundation and Rotary Club of Saginaw, and now 45 years later its clearly showing its age,” explains Melissa, “so this year we decided to make its renovation a top priority.”

“That whole stretch from the YMCA and the new Garber Tennis Courts and the Pickleball Courts and Andersen Enrichment Center looks really great right now, but The Crayola Park is the only facility that needs some attention, so our Rotary Club decided to spearhead fundraising for the renovation.  It will cost about $750,000 to completely renovate that barrier free park,” she continues. “The Saginaw Community Foundation will hold these funds while people make donation and our Rotary Club has already make a contribution to cover the initial costs to get things going.  We generally raise between $8,000-$10,000 with each festival, so this year it will be our primary fundraising recipient.  We are very excited because once that park gets finished it will look very nice.”

In previous years proceeds from Saginaw On Stage has gone to numerous organizations such as the  Youth Protection Council, All Music is Power (AMP), Major Chords for Minors, A Place for Grace, Mustard Seed Shelter, Saginaw Rescue Mission, Underground Railroad, Scouting, CAN Council, Child and Family Services, Children's Museum, Community Prescription Support Program, Covenant Kids, and The Dictionary Project for kids, to name but a few.

This year’s performance schedule for the 20^th Annual Saginaw On Stage Music Festival consists of the following:

Main Stage • Third Floor Ballroom

Saginaw Elite Big Band • 5:00 PM

Coleman Road Band • 6:60 PM

Kush Robinson • 8:40 PM

Second Floor Stages • Big Room & Main Dining Room

Blanket Party • 5:00 PM (Big Room) 

Off Tempo! • 6:00 PM (Main Dining Room)

Better Days • 7:00 PM (Big Room)

Bob Barcalow • 8:00 PM (Main Dining Room)

The Smokie Links • 9:00 PM (Big Room)

Pool Table Room • First Floor

Not All There - Jamie Payne & Jason Baker • 5:00 PM 

Saving Grace Band - Tony Bader • 5:45 PM 

Dusty Ballard • 5:45 PM 

JR Band & Friends - Randy Juhl • 7:15 PM

Justin Mangutz • 8:00 PM

Tim Neumeyer • 8:45 PM

Tribute To The Artist • First Floor)

 A Special stage for local artists to sing their Tribute to an Artist that has passed  away in the last five years.

Announcements • 5:00 PM

Jason Shaw • 5:10 PM                                

Kimberly Megoran • 5:40 PM                       

Kristine Goodwin •   6:10 PM  

Renee Beldon • 6:40 PM 

Derek Dixon / Dave Miller • 7:10 PM  

Tana Michaels / Amelia Jo • 7:40 PM  

Joe Balbaugh • 8:10 PM  

Val Hazel • 8:40 PM                                    

Shannon Schnettler / Conor Larkin • 9:10 PM  

Amor Marros •  9:40 PM 

Tickets for this year’s Saginaw On Stage will once again be $40.00 and will get the attendee one free drink included with their ticket purchase.  Additional drinks are available at bars on all three floors. Melissa says if anybody is interested in ordering dinner or food, this year there is an option to add food to your ticket purchase for an additional $25.00 and people will be issued a wrist band.

“This year we decided to go with an all-you-can-eat buffet centered around offering lighter fare such as meatballs, dips, vegetables, chicken wings, and various types of finger food instead of a heavy one-trip dinner buffet,” she notes.

“There’s a lot of parts in motion with an event of this nature, so we are hoping for a great turnout and a smooth, exciting, fun, and engaging evening of top musical entertainment,” concludes Melissa. “We are deeply appreciative for all the time and energy all the musicians and volunteers have dedicated towards making this a successful celebration and are excited about the way this festiva continues to evolve and beneit our community.”

For more information, a complete performance schedule, and to purchase tickets go to SaginawOnStage.com.  The Saginaw Club is located at 219 N. Washington Avenue in Downtown Saginaw.