Blues Festival a Successful Fundraiser

Posted by John Fuller

With thanks to Steve and Helen Simon for the opportunity, Saturday, March 24th, Rotarians gathered at the ballfield in Coral Bay to sell beverages at the St John Blues Festival main event. This is our spring fundraiser and proceeds go to K.A.T.S. and our scholarships. We raised a little over $3,000 last year and were hoping for more this year since we did not sell orchids for Valentines.

The set-up was accomplished through often heroic efforts: starting with Patrick Pearson who brought ice from St Thomas early in the day since St John Ice was not able to provide enough, and Bill Gross who proved to be a great truck unloader and later saved the day for margarita drinkers by finding enough mix, and Cheryl Geller who provided the lighting (and so much more). Rotarians and spouses and friends pitched in to keep drinks iced: "Frozen hands" Carlson, Ronnie Klingsberg, Lee Fuller, and Dr Bob Raymond in particular. Our smiling, friendly "front staff" definitely put the "service" in Service Above Self: Doug and Leslie White, Bill and Sara Willigerod, Lenyse and "Shomo" Shomo, Kathy Hurley, Joe Garza, Miles Stair, Sharon Coldren, Julie Fortunato, Mike and Chris Jordan, Karen Radke, Bonny Corbeil, Christie O'Neil, Vicky Lord, and BJ Harris kept the drinks flowing and garnered over $1,960 in tips!

The madness surrounding the cashier station never seemed to rattle Geri Kotas nor her relief cashier Joan Bermingham. The recycling of dollar bills from the tip jars to continue to be able to make change was a constant challenge as every customer seemed to have only $20's to start with.

Many thanks to our suppliers: Bellows International, Mixology Warehouse, and St John Ice who provided us with good product at great prices and so much more. We could not have done this without Alan's wholehearted support (and truck!)

A full accounting of the results will be forthcoming in a week or so after all the bills are tallied, but I can say right out that it was very successful and we learned so much that we can apply next year to be even better.

My sincerest apologies if I missed recognizing any of our volunteers. Chalk it up to my age, email me your name and I'll correct this article.

Look for pictures (not great, but at least there are some) in the Photo Journal section of our home page. If you have photos. email them to me and I'll add them.