That glow in the sky is downtown Milton

Middle of January. Non-holiday weekend. Downtown Milton.

Hardly a parking spot in sight on the main and side streets. Restaurants and stores busy. What’s going on? Milton Theatre. The doors are busy opening and closing, the lobby teems with people chatting in small groups and lined up at the bar for a beer or glass of wine.

Outside, eyes are attracted to colorful posters announcing many live shows and films planned for the rest of January and coming months.

When the Best of the Eagles tribute band takes the stage at 3 p.m., every seat in the theater is taken. Sold out. That scene will be repeated two more times over the weekend: Saturday evening for an 8 p.m. show and then again on Sunday. Milton is happening.

This group of seasoned and talented musicians lit up the theater, playing to an energized and appreciative audience, singing all the Eagles originals with their tight trademark harmonies, paying honest tribute to one of the first country/rock crossover bands whose ballads and imagery appealed to a great swath of the American population.

The tribute squarely nailed the demographic that continues to swell the many neighborhoods growing around Milton and elsewhere in eastern Sussex: retirees who enjoy quality entertainment and a good meal afterward with new friends and old.

The power of the arts. They tap creative potential, they’re positive, they’re entertaining and they’re enlivening. In Milton, the group committed to making the historic theater a success is relentless. Several different shows brighten the marquee, the stage and the screen each week, appealing to all different segments. Hundreds each year. It’s truly inspiring and unquestionably helping downtown Milton turn the corner into sustainable vibrancy.

While the theater continues to book shows and stage them – no small task – it is pressing the accelerator into a fundraising campaign that will bring needed capital improvements to make the theater even more attractive. The campaign deserves the community’s full and generous support.

The energy of Milton Theatre, Milton Historical Society and Dogfish Head have combined to create a critical mass bringing immediate and long-term benefits to the community.