The sound of fast fingers plucking strings flooded Tom Evans Park Thursday evening when the Porch Stompers performed at Tune In to Main Street in downtown Ames.

The Porch Stompers, a trio consisting of Rick Exner, Merle Hall and Alice McGary, is a local band that plays traditional American songs and ragtime.

“Merle and I have been playing together for six or seven years; Rick and Merle have been playing since, well, I don’t know,” McGary said.

It took a little deliberation, but Exner and Hall concluded it had been since 1978.

“It was 1978, not to be confused with 1878,” said Hall after a few chuckles.

The performance by the Porch Stompers has marked the halfway point of the Tune In to Main Street series for this summer.

More than 200 to 300 people have welcomed the event every Thursday, said Allyson Walter, interim director of the Main Street Cultural District.

The crowd was able to relax and have free popcorn and participate in events that were held for family and friends provided by nonprofit organizations.

Friendship Ark Homes, a private, nonprofit organization aimed at providing residential support for individuals with intellectual disabilities, held T-shirt drawings every 10 minutes and a candy jar count contest.

“We are here to provide awareness and to invite people to participate in Four on the Fourth, our run/walk, on July 4 at Ada Hayden Park,” said executive director Mary Beth Oostenbrug.

Ames365.com provided a new rendition of the dunk tank called the “Splash Attack.” Volunteers were soaked, not by being dunked into a tank of water, but when a cantaloupe-sized water balloons popped over their heads.

“The Splash Attack has been a real hit with kids. The weather has been nice enough that I don’t mind getting wet,” said Julie Young, a public relations intern with Ames365.com.

Ted Peterson, of Ames, had a try at the Splash Attack and succeeded in drenching Young.

We dropped a bike off at Skunk River Cycles and saw all the people and wanted to see what was going on,” Peterson said.

Children were able to throw for free, while adults were able to throw and donate money toward Ames365.com and the Mid-Iowa Community Action Inc. food pantry.

Children were able to bounce around in a dinosaur-shaped bounce house provided by Gee Willie Entertainment, 111 Lynn Ave. #3, while others made pictures with sidewalk chalk supplied by the Sylvia Learning Center, 1601 Golden Aspen Drive.

Volunteers from Verb, a program that encourages young people ages 9 through 13 to be physically active every day, was there to promote the program and hand out scorecards that children fill out to win prizes.

“The whole thing is to get the community involved in community activities. It is a good way to keep kids active by offering incentives,” said Travis Hartke, an event coordinator of Verb.