By Erin Randolph erin@dmcityview.com

You know it's going to be an interesting night when, even before you pay the $5 cover to get into an event, some middle-aged guy wielding cardboard boxes is looking to hand you a tacky necklace with a blinking fluorescent green star hanging from it and, shortly after, you spot a middle-aged woman wearing (and playing) a washboard tie.

Is this suburbia's idea of a good time? Apparently so, as Walker Johnston Park's softball field area was teeming with middle-aged suburbanites out on a Saturday night - perhaps a little later than normal - for Fall For Urbandale, an event spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce meant to highlight the western suburb as a good place to live and work.

As the kids run around on the lit-up softball fields, the parents stand around or sit on park benches gossiping and sipping $3 beers. An army of canvas folding chairs is arranged around a stage where Bob Dorr and The Blue Band are playing. And, of course, a militia of star-necklace-wearing couples are awkwardly dancing in front of the stage like this is some sort of middle-aged rave party sans acid and with family friendly rock music instead of pulsating techno tunes.

"It always makes me sad when the summer festival season ends," says Bob Dorr. The crowd seems to agree. However, Dorr says that the band has committed to play a show in Windsor Heights in December - outdoors.

"Those Windsor Heights people are crazy," says a woman with a wink in the Bar Fly's direction. The woman is out with her dog, occasionally tugging it up near the stage to dance along with the music. Well,OK, the dog just stands there while its owner shimmies.

We retreat from the stage and head back towards the beer. There, the Bar Fly runs into Amy, 25, and Andrea, 25, both of Des Moines and perhaps a few of the only attendees not over 40 or under 15. They'd heard about the event through friends and decided to take advantage of the nice weather.

They'd normally be at the laid-back bars they enjoy, like Wellman's, A.K. O'Connors and Drink.

Later, we run into Kory, 28, and Sarah, 25, an attractive married couple from Des Moines who does not venture out to the bar scene very often "because bars are only to pick up ass."

"How long have you guys been out here?" the Bar Fly asks.

"For about eight beers," Kory says.

"No," Sarah says coyly.

"About an hour," Kory says.

They decided to come to Fall For Urbandale because it's something to do and because Kory's cousin is the saxophone player for The Blue Band. If they do head out to the bars, they go to Trophy's or Porky's for bike night, as Kory has a bike.

An hour is about all the Bar Fly can stomach of Fall For Urbandale. While the event undoubtedly has its customer base (families who probably normally don't make it out past the time the street lights illuminate and a few twentysomething stragglers looking for a break from the bar scene), it's all a little too much like an enlarged block party with booze - and, of course, seizure-inducing necklaces.

Bar notes

You've missed your excuse to don a Hawaiian shirt and listen to a loop of Jimmy Buffett songs at Jimmy's American Cafè. However, Wednesday nights still mean specials at the Eighth Street establishment, with $10 buckets of Corona, Corona Lite, Bud, Bud Light and Michelob Light, and $3 vodka & Red Bulls... Scorno's, the sports bar in the lower level of Scornovacca's on East 14th Street, has reopened... A newly renovated Hull Avenue Tap has reopened under new ownership. The pub, which touts itself as the oldest in Des Moines, will continue its tradition of hosting live music, but will be more of a biker-oriented bar... Drink now has a Web site, including a photo gallery, a list of upcoming events and a mailing list. Visit it at ww.theoriginalfunbar.com/DrinkDM.html. CV

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