By the close of the weekend, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce had sold more than 5,000 tickets for the Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson concert next month on Doubleday Field.

A long line of ticket purchasers had formed by the time sales began at 8 a.m. when 19-year-old Nick Costanzo was the first to get his.

Costanzo had been waiting since 3:30 a.m. - more than four hours ahead of the official start time - to purchase 18 tickets for himself and family and friends.

He said he drew the "bad straw" and the task of standing in line fell to him.

Costanzo said he tries to see many concerts and had been in Saratoga last week to see Phish, but had never seen Dylan or Nelson before.

"I've heard great things about them and I'm really excited," he said, adding that being able to walk to a concert would be great.

Costanzo, who was on his way to his high school graduation rehearsal after getting the tickets, said he was looking forward to the show.

"It's pretty much the coolest thing that ever happened in town as long as I've been here," he said.

Chamber of Commerce director Polly Renckens said Monday that they had sold 5,888 tickets to date. The chamber started with 6,000 and obtained another thousand from Ticketmaster, but Renckens expected to sell out by the end of the week.

"I feel fairly confident we'll sell them," she said.

Sales went smoothly Saturday, she said, with in-person transactions at the Chestnut Street office higher than on the internet. Renkens said that Ticketmaster had sold approximately 2,000 bringing the total mid-day on Monday to nearly 8,000 out of the 12,000 available sold.

By Wednesday morning the chamber had sold 5,397 tickets with 603 remaining. The total number purchased climbed to 9,000.

The chamber of commerce will continue to sell tickets in person at its office, over the internet and by telephone until its supply runs out.