By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The music in downtown Larned sounded so good Tuesday afternoon that even a little rain did not stop business owners from stepping outside to give the Larned Area Chamber of Commerce a thumbs up. Eighteen new speakers have been installed on Broadway between 4th and 8th streets. Chamber Director Alex Filbert called it a huge improvement over previous speakers.
"We've had speakers in downtown Larned for years and years, but the quality is unmatched to what we have now," she said. "We used to use them for parades, and they would get the job done, but music was basically a no-go on them. It's really enhancing the atmosphere downtown, and it's just really exciting to have great, quality speakers playing music again."
The chamber will control the music from a variety of possible mediums, including Bluetooth, CDs, radio, or even a microphone. Best of all, the speakers come at no cost to the city.
"We were very, very fortunate," Filbert said, "and these speakers were funded by a private donor that saw the value of enhancing the downtown atmosphere."
The chamber plans to utilize the speakers during parades and other downtown events.