MICHAEL PRUCINSKY AND Friends’ “Safe Sax Trio” — with Prucinsky on saxophone, Carmen Nickerson on vocals and guitar, and Kostia Efimov on keyboards — will perform June 10 at the opening session of both Out to Lunch in Iron Mountain and Music in the Park in Norway. (Submitted photo)

After a one-year hiatus in Norway, and a late start in Iron Mountain in 2020, live outdoor music on Thursdays will return this summer.

Both free summer concert series — the daytime Out to Lunch in downtown Iron Mountain and the evening Music in the Park in downtown Norway — are set to start June 10.

Out to Lunch will be 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Thursdays on the Downtown Development Authority stage in Magee Johnson Park, on Hughitt and Iron Mountain streets. Music in the Park will be 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays in the band shell on Main Street.

Crossroads Church on Odill Drive will host the Music in the Park concerts in the event of inclement weather. Out to Lunch concerts in the past have been moved to the Braumart Theatre when rain threatened, with the shift posted on Facebook, but it was unclear whether that would be done this year.

Out to Lunch and Music in the Park will feature three “doubleheader” events June 10, July 8 and Aug. 12, when the same group will perform in both community events.

“We hope folks that come into Iron Mountain for Out to Lunch will enjoy the afternoon, have a nice dinner in the area and come on down to the beautiful Band Shell Park in Norway for these free evening performances,” Music in the Park spokesperson Carol Sundstrom said.

The Music in the Park program began in 2013 and continued for three summers before the grant funding from the Michigan Council for the Arts was discontinued. After many Norway residents called for the concerts to resume, the program was revived through the efforts of a steering committee that included local artist and former organizer Sundstrom, retired Norway-Vulcan Area Schools instrumental music instructor Greg Hunt and Norway City Manager Ray Anderson.

Iron Mountain’s Out to Lunch program has been entertaining audiences even longer. Started by the late Magee Johnson in 2002, the program now is operated by the Iron Mountain Downtown Development Authority, or DDA.

Sponsorship for the Music in The Park series has come from donations from city residents, local businesses and contributions ranging from $25 up to large gifts from area businesses and organizations.

Out to Lunch secures funding through sponsorships, funds raised through a 50-50 raffle and in-kind donations. Season sponsor this year is First National Bank & Trust, with an additional sponsor for each weekly concert.

“It’s great to see these series both return to full summer schedules. We have fantastic artists lined up and we know our community will appreciate the variety of styles the artists will bring to both downtowns in Iron Mountain and Norway,” Iron Mountain DDA Director Amber Pipp said.

The doubleheader concerts include:

— June 10: Michael Prucinsky and Friends (Safe Sax!) of Port Washington, Wis.;

— July 8: Kind of Blues of Escanaba, Iron Mountain, Menominee;

— Aug. 12: The DayDreamers of Marquette.

For more information or full season schedules, go online to facebook.com/Norway-Music-In-The-Park, or downtownironmountain.com/out-to-lunch.