Blues In The Schools

 

    On November 22^nd, Stu Kinzel and I will perform a very special BIS for Carus Elementary School in Oregon City. You may remember that Del Seitzinger and Jan Bisconer secured a $300 cash grant from the Carus "Community 101" student council. This council was comprised of students participating in philanthropic and community efforts with funding from the Enron Foundation. Each student researched a specific need or program that addressed community issues. The Carus kids found the Blues In Schools to be a worthy recipient of their cash grant! Del and Jan did a top-notch presentation for the kids, and we (Jan Bisconer and I) attended the award ceremony at the school to receive the promissory note.

    You can imagine how gratifying it will be for us to perform for these kids. They are the very children who selflessly donated funding so that many children could enjoy Blues In Schools all over the area!

    I have mailed sponsorship packages to The United Way, American Express, Barnes & Noble, Intel, Cingular Wireless, and other corporations listed in the NEA's Grantors List. Each of these packages includes a Blues In Schools CD, information about our goals and objectives, information regarding preservation of Folk Art and self-expression, the study of music and public library archives of Smithsonian recordings. I have included information provided by the CBA regarding their financial commitment to BIS, and information provided by Ethos regarding the amount of funds they have received and disbursed since 2000. I also included a budget proposal clearly indicating our needs.

    It is my hope that we will receive enough funding from philanthropic organizations to quit begging for money from the CBA membership. But it hasn't happened yet. Thanks to Amy Allen, I was able to send a package to the Soroptomists of Portland. Thanks to Steve Pringle, I was able to send Allegro Music a package requesting sponsorship. Both Amy and Steve got information to me regarding potential interest and support from the Soroptomists and Allegro Music. Any similar information you may have would be greatly appreciated.

    If any members are interested in funding some BIS in-school presentations, please send a check to our Treasurer (clearly stating "FOR BLUES IN SCHOOLS" on the face of the check), or seek me out at a meeting. Any donation for any amount will be greatly appreciated, and it is tax-deductible. Each package I send costs me $10. Somehow I manage to carry on, but it is getting harder and harder. I raised $12.50 toward BIS at the November meeting (25% of the CD sales from my own records. You may recall in Sept. I donated 50% of our CD sales to the CBA at the monthly meeting.)

    I am still waiting for confirmation on our tentative Dec. BIS presentation. Anyone who wants a BIS show for their child's school should call me and provide the principal's name and phone number. My home phone is 503-788-8759 and I have a voice mail.

    Some good news from Ethos regarding their music lesson program and benefit concerts is also good for BIS. Ethos has sponsored our program since 2000, including BIS at the Oregon Convention Center MLK Jr. Day, the Rose Festival, Children's Day Saturday Market, the Salvation Army Summer Camp and numerous community centers and events. Thanks to Ethos' commitment to musical education and multi-cultural musical presentation, BIS has a strong advocate with many community ties. Ethos was able to realize a good profit at its October benefit (with Pink Martini) and November benefit (The Derailers, Retta and the Smart Fellas, White Line Fever) and will be in a good position to host our next Blues In Schools Benefit Concert. Although we had to put it on the back burner this year, the annual Winter Blast will occur in January, 2003. Charles Lewis, Founder and Director of Ethos, will be our coordinator for the event.

    For any of you interested in the music lesson program at Ethos (focused on underserved areas of the community), you can check them out online at www.ethos-inc.com, or by phone at 503-241-8824. Ethos provides music lessons and music instrument rental to any interested child, regardless of ability to pay. After countless studies, the verdict is in proving musical study and discipline has a positive effect on a child's ability to learn abstract concepts. Musical discipline generates better focus on a given task or problem, allows for better performance on tests of all sorts and builds self-esteem. Musical education for our children is so important in so many ways. It is a real honor to participate in music education with Ethos, and with all of the fine staff members who work there.

Until the next time,

- LynnAnn Hyde