The LCBS Board of Directors are very pleased to, once again, express our gratitude to everyone who participated in producing another resounding success –
BLUESMORE 2011!
For all those who were fortunate enough to attend our annual “Party at the Big House” this year, you know what a beautiful day it was and what a great audience turned out for an incredible event. But, looking at the grey skies and steady downpour we faced at about 7 AM that same morning, we were a little nervous as we started preparing for our all important, annual fund-raising show. But by mid morning the clouds turned blue and the sun shone thru and we were a relieved bunch of blues music lovers! We were well rewarded for our efforts with a fantastic show provided by all our hard working entertainers. Many thanks to our inventive entertainment committee for takin’ a risk by venturing into a bit of Cajun/Zydeco Blues departure this year with a super selection of talented, diverse musicians!
Everyone knows that it takes a dedicated team of players laboring together to produce an event like Bluesmore, and fortunately for Linn County music lovers, we had the best teammates and some powerful mojo to help us pull it all together.
First and foremost, we must thank the Brucemore staff for the countless hours and effort they put into the production of this fine family event that they host on the front lawn of this National Historic Trust property which is truly a local treasure, from the “Big House” itself down to the classic atmosphere it provides. Jim, Tara, Roger and the rest of the staff are fantastic to work with and leave no detail undone.
We could not do without our magic media sponsors: The Gazette and KCRG-TV9 who did an incredible job of advertising and promoting our show; many, many thanks to them.
We also owe a huge thank-you to our Main Stage sponsor Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and our Side Porch Stage sponsor Hometown Restyling for stepping up in a big way to help us continue to provide such great musical entertainment.
We thank our passionate Public Radio partners, Iowa Public Radio (formerly KUNI), for live taping of our great show for future use in broadcasting across Iowa, and Kirkwood’s own KCCK for their fine promotional assistance.
We thank Nate Hines and the super sounds of 16th Avenue Productions for the sweet sound production work they do. We always receive great compliments from all the bands on the fine quality of their efforts.
We thank Tom and Nick Carfrae, owners of Tomaso’s Pizza, and their staff at the Center Point Road shop for generously feeding the performing artists and volunteers with great pizza and BBQ all night long.
There are many others we thank as well: Fleck Sales for providing refreshing beverages for sale and backstage, the C.R. Jaycees for serving the fine cold refreshments, the Optimists for their work as ticket takers and greeters, Wilbert Vault for providing tents for cover from the sun, Craig Taylor and his crew for donating their quality security services, our many delicious food vendors for keeping the fans fed and refreshed, our ticket outlets for helping us promote our show, and any others I may be forgetting in my post show delirium.
Finally, before we run out of ink, we cannot forget to thank our many fine board members and volunteers for the countless hours of dedicated work they donated to make our show possible: Frank Wilson, our President, Chaplain and fearless leader; Evan Vulich, our stage manager and coordinator in addition to being our Vice-President, Bluespaper editor and staff artist/designer; Greg West, our Entertainment Chair and musical equipment manager; Gary Gibson, our Back Porch Stage manager and Education Chair; Bob DeForest, our emcee and stage host and musical advisor; David Andrews, our Merchandise chair, garment guru and volunteer organizer; Sue Dergo, our Treasurer and financial magician; Stephanie West, our Secretary and one-woman steering committee, Kevin Cutsforth, our Membership Chair and fundraiser; Janet Evans, our backstage organizer and artist hospitality hostess; and last, but not least, yours truly, Bill Meeks, entertainer services manager and pizza deliveryman extrordinaire. Additionally, we had many wonderful volunteers who worked in various areas including: the merchandise tent, backstage on one or both stages, on-stage setup and teardown crews, etc. and we want all these folks to know their work is greatly appreciated and they are welcome back anytime. If you see any of these folks out and about, be sure and thank them for putting on such a fabulous, funfilled, family event.