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Hot Summer Nights brings the heat with annual bash
McCOOK, Neb. — On the Fritz scorched the stage at MNB’s Hot Summer Nights on Thursday night in McCook.
The annual event, held at Norris Park, featured the Omaha band, who performs songs spanning seven decades and has appeared with over 40 national acts. The band had the crowd singing along, bouncing their heads, tapping their feet and full-on dancing on the grass.
“It was fantastic. We absolutely loved performing for this event,” the band’s Stan Fritz told the Gazette. “We always love coming to McCook. Thank you so much!”
Terri Skolout, community relations coordinator with MNB Bank said the band was great and that there were around 250 people in attendance for the concert.
“We are always just grateful that people come out, and we're very thankful for our staff for the support because the staff comes and helps after hours to help make the concert enjoyable for everyone,” Skolout said. “We're just grateful that the community comes out and we can do something nice for our community. That's part of our place. We love being a hometown bank.”
McCook Community Chest grilled up a hot dog dinner with chips, cookies and water for a free-will donation to support the 2026 Southwest Nebraska Big Give. Beautify McCook served root beer floats at the concert as a fundraiser.
“We’ve been doing these hot summer night concerts for, I think, 27 or 28 years. So, we do have Beautify McCook and Community Chest come in and partner for that night, and we give them a venue for them to have their fundraisers,” Skolout said.
McCook Community Chest was created to raise money for local non-profit agencies, such as those that assist with low-income food assistance, protection from physical abuse, shelter after economic hardship, education, fitness and recreation. The entity also oversees the Southeast Nebraska Big Give fundraiser.
Beautify McCook is a group of local volunteers that works to bring beauty and nature to McCook by taking on projects like the flower planters on Norris Ave., which are completely cared for by volunteers. They also do community clean-ups. The next clean-up day is Sunday, July 19, from 6 to 7 p.m., meeting at Norris Alley at 402 Norris Ave.
Melissa Stritt, MNB employee and Community Chest co-chair, said the volunteer organization has been partnering with the Hot Summer Nights for a fundraiser for 11 years and all of the proceeds go towards administrative costs, such as envelopes and advertising, to ensure every penny of the Big Give fund drive donations goes towards helping local charities.
This year, a total of $986 was collected through the free-will donations during the hot dog feed. Approximately 210 hot dogs passed through their tongs.
“We’re very appreciative and thankful for everyone who came out,” Stritt said.
Amanda Engell, Beautify McCook committee member, said they raised around $600, which will be put towards a new campaign called Get Lit McCook, which will replace the city skyline lights with phone-controllable LED lights and can be used for various occasions throughout the year.