NAME THAT TUNE-A-THON
Oct 29,2020 will be an evening-long remembered.
Every year the Rotary of Smithtown Sunrise has an annual Oktoberfest fundraiser to raise money for our local food pantries just ahead of the holiday season. Typically our members would join in a festive dinner and dance party with raffles and baskets and great fanfare. Normally we would raise around $4500 and the food pantries have always been very thankful. This year an event of that magnitude posed a challenge given Covid-19. Good thing our club likes a challenge! Our club president, Cara Vercellone, brought an idea to the club floor. To stay to true to our commitment and with the help of ZOOM she came up with the idea of incorporating the musical talents of 3 of our club members in a virtual Name That Tune A Thon. Here is how it would work - Past President & vocalist, John Zollo, Secretary and guitarist, Keith Radonis, and member keyboardist, Eddie Martella would each play 7 songs of their choosing. The Club members formed teams. These teams would guess the title, artist, and decade of the song. That was the fun part! The business end was raising money. Each team had to raise a modest $400. Our early estimates and goals were very modest. We were hoping to raise $4000 to $5000 and make a serious impact on the food pantries. In the end we came up with close to $10,000. Far beyond anyone's imagination and all while having some of the funniest and fun experiences of our lives.
Every year the Rotary of Smithtown Sunrise has an annual Oktoberfest fundraiser to raise money for our local food pantries just ahead of the holiday season. Typically our members would join in a festive dinner and dance party with raffles and baskets and great fanfare. Normally we would raise around $4500 and the food pantries have always been very thankful. This year an event of that magnitude posed a challenge given Covid-19. Good thing our club likes a challenge! Our club president, Cara Vercellone, brought an idea to the club floor. To stay to true to our commitment and with the help of ZOOM she came up with the idea of incorporating the musical talents of 3 of our club members in a virtual Name That Tune A Thon. Here is how it would work - Past President & vocalist, John Zollo, Secretary and guitarist, Keith Radonis, and member keyboardist, Eddie Martella would each play 7 songs of their choosing. The Club members formed teams. These teams would guess the title, artist, and decade of the song. That was the fun part! The business end was raising money. Each team had to raise a modest $400. Our early estimates and goals were very modest. We were hoping to raise $4000 to $5000 and make a serious impact on the food pantries. In the end we came up with close to $10,000. Far beyond anyone's imagination and all while having some of the funniest and fun experiences of our lives.
A TRUE TEAM EFFORT. It's what we do!...... Viva La Smithtown Sunrise!