Honey Brook Borough will continue its 2025 Concerts in the Park series on Sunday, July 13, when Across the Pond will perform Celtic traditional folk music from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

The concert will take place in Honey Brook Borough Park, 71 Pequea Ave. (Route 10), Honey Brook. In lieu of an admission fee, nonperishable food donations will be accepted for the Honey Brook Food Pantry.

The band members, who hail from Adams, York and Franklin counties, will perform for the fifth time as part of the concert series. The band's last performance in Honey Brook was in 2023. "The first year we played was in 2013, and I had never heard of Honey Brook. But now Honey Brook is in the top of our list of places we want to return for repeat concerts," said band member Dan Diviney.  

This will be the band's first concert with its new fiddle player, Lavinia Reid, a resident of Chambersburg in Franklin County. "She fits in very well with our style of playing," Diviney noted.

Other band members include Molly Shortridge from York County, who plays the silver flute, Irish flute and alto flute, as well as a variety of low and high Irish whistles. She also sings lead and backup vocals. "Molly and Lavinia perform the most amazing version of 'The Crested Hen' I've ever heard," said Diviney. 

Diviney will play Irish whistles and an Irish drum called the bodhran and do some singing. Rounding out the band is frontman Mike Morrison on guitar, mandolin, Native American flute and both lead and backing vocals.  

The band performs music from Ireland and Scotland. Its music ranges from slow love songs and ballads to fast jigs and reels. Across the Pond has been described as "a Celtic band on high octane."

"The Irish music we play is very popular in and of itself, and how we arrange it makes it even more interesting," said Diviney. "And you don't have to be Irish to like the music."

He noted that audience members often become involved in the concert by singing or dancing along. "Oftentimes when we play, there are several people who get up and dance, and if not dancing, they are tapping their toes and clapping along," he said. "The last time we played in Honey Brook, a couple got up and did dances, and it was interesting for us to see. They were dancing to some waltzes; it reminded me of ballroom dancing."

Coincidentally, during another concert in Honey Brook, the show again was enhanced by an audience member. "One year, we brought a step dancer along, and she ran into a champion step dancer in the audience," said Diviney. "They danced together to our music in the covered picnic area. They did a couple of dances, which was really fun."

Diviney added that some audience members in Honey Brook who were from Ireland particularly enjoyed the music. "When we played there, some people came up to us who are from Ireland to talk to us and encourage us to apply for (different Irish) festivals," he said, noting that the band members have many years of performing experience. "We have done 780-some shows over 15 years."

"Mike and I were two of the three founders of the original trio that we had," he added. "Then the fiddler left, and we replaced him, and the second fiddler left, and we just picked up Lavinia. We are really happy with the people we have and how things are going."

The band will have two CDs available at the concert, including "Little Beggarman," recorded in 2019. For more information about the band, visit http://www.acrossthepondmusic.com.

Following the concert on July 13, two additional concerts will be featured as part of the series. Wood Flower, a bluegrass band, will perform on Sunday, Aug. 3, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and the concert series will conclude on Sunday, Sept. 7, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. with a performance by Local Honey.

For more information, visit www.honeybrookborough.net, choose "Events" and then select "Concerts in the Park." Those with questions may email jjenzano@hbboro.net.

In the event of inclement weather, a decision to cancel the concert will be made by 1 p.m. on the day of the show. A cancellation message will be posted on the website.