Annual musical fundraiser coming to Ridgewood High

The sounds of traditional bluegrass, country and old time music will fill the air at the Ridgewood High School auditorium Friday, March 10. For the second year in a row, some of the area’s top musicians and singers are donating their time for An Evening of Musical Entertainment, a fundraising event that will provide college scholarships for Ridgewood seniors.

“We made enough money last year for two $500 scholarships,” said Roger Ridenour of the West Lafayette Lions Club.

The Lions and Club Scion are co-sponsoring the event. Each club will award a scholarship. Club Scion, a West Lafayette women’s club, has eight members.
“We’re small but mighty,” said club president, Shelley Howell.

Most of the evening’s entertainers live in the West Lafayette area. Several are Ridgewood graduates.

“We’re trying to keep it local … local musicians helping local students,” Howell said. Club Scion is also in charge of providing food for the event.

John Hardesty, Lions member and chairperson for the fundraiser, said the combination of food and music was a hit last year.

“It’s a lights-down concert atmosphere. And there will be sandwiches, chicken and noodles, pies, cakes…and two intermissions so people can get up and get more food.”

The evening’s entertainment will include the old-time music of the Hardesty Brothers with Carter Eberwine, country band Ramblin’ Fever, and the Chestnut Hill Bluegrass Band.

Clenda Hardesty sings and picks mandolin with Chestnut Hill. She says concertgoers can look forward to hearing a variety of bluegrass songs from traditional classics and gospels to original compositions and even some unusual adaptations.

“We do a bluegrass version of Great Balls of Fire,” she said.

Hardesty, a Ridgewood graduate, said the band always gets requests for their version of “Peace in the Valley,” which features the group’s rich harmony. The band takes its name from the old Chestnut Hill Church where band members host a jam session once each month.

Hardesty thinks the appeal of bluegrass comes from a combination of the stringed instruments, vocals and the meaning of the lyrics.

“People love hearing the acoustic instruments, the rhythm and the message too. Some of the songs are sad, but they’re not all sad. Bluegrass is something special,” he said.

While the food and toe-tapping music will no doubt raise the spirits of all in attendance, the goal of the concert is to raise money for scholarships. Last year, after expenses, the concert raised $1,100. This year’s goal is $1,500.

According to Hardesty there were a total of 41 applicants competing for two scholarships last year. Applicants were required to submit a written essay. Winners were Ryan Medley and Kris Howell.

“The money really came in handy,” said Howell. “It bought my books for the first two quarters.”

Howell, 19, is a freshman at Otterbein College in Westerville and is working toward a business degree.

Ridgewood seniors interested in applying for this year’s scholarships should contact their guidance counselor. Deadline for submitting a completed application is March 24 for the Club Scion scholarship and April 14 for the Lions Club scholarship. Both scholarships will be awarded in May.

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at 12:08 am and is filed under Scholarship. Tags: Carter Eberwine, Chestnut Hill, Chestnut Hill Church, College, Fever, food, International Association of Lions Clubs, John Hardesty, Kris Howell, Lions, Otterbein College, Ramblin, Ridgewood High School, Roger Ridenour, Ryan Medley, Scholarship, Shelley Howell, Student, West Lafayette Lions Club, Westerville, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.