Busy Times

Bea and I have been busy organizing our first Walk in the Park for Scleroderma these past few weeks. My tasks have been mostly computer related - writing letters, making posters and drawing up pledge sheets. We are also doing the concert again and I started working on that poster today as well. The bands aren't finalized yet so I won't finish it until everyone is confirmed.

Details for the walk are as follows:

Gibbons Park, London, Ontario on Saturday June 5 from 10:00 - 2:00

and the concert:

Same day at the

East Side Bar & Grill

750 Hamilton Road, London

3:00 - 7:30

Tickets at the door $10.00 or a donation of $10.00 or more at the walk.

Contact me for pledge sheets and more details.

(Chris Trowell, Bill Durst & David Wahl performing at our concert)

Jill Martin, a member of the London branch of the SSO put this together so I've asked her permission to post an edited version here. Thanks Jill for your enthusiasm and support in this project.

THANK-YOU!!!

We want to Thank everyone for coming and helping Us expand the Awareness of Scleroderma. The money raised at this Concert will all go to the SSO. We want to thank the Bands for donating their time and talents and to the Eastside Bar and Grill for the free use of there facility and to all the Staff. And thanks to all that have helped with the Concert and bringing this idea into reality .I hoped that all left enjoying this event and also took with them with a much greater understanding of this disease SCLERODERMA. Most of all a bit more knowledge of what we as patients deal with.And that some might just be able to recognize someone with Scleroderma now and can now say YES I’ve heard and know something about that disease.

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LAUGHTER AND MUSIC. Laughter and music have been proven to help many Chronic Diseases. It raises your heart rate and can improver your immune system and lower blood pressure and even reduce pain .Most of all one gains a Positive Attitude. Laughing reduces stress and promotes relaxation. "Laughter Can The Best Medicine." Several Universities In the USA are doing studies/surreys on Laughter Therapy. Music can sooth the Beast." BUT It also may be able to help your body as well. Studies have shown that listening to Music We Enjoy actually can cause tissues in the inner lining of the blood vessels to dilate improving blood flow. Listening to Music you Enjoy can expand blood vessels by as much as 26% and in Contrast listening to Music you don’t like can make you anxious and cause blood vessels to shrink thus less blood flow.. Both Laughter and Music have been found to have similar effects on blood flow through the body. There was plenty of both at this our Concert . It now over and it went very well .We accomplished our goals of raising some very needed funds for SCLERODERMA and building some more awareness of this disease.........We had our trials and worries but in the end it all played out well.And building some more awareness of this disease and its problems for us as patients. It was well attended and all seemed to enjoy the whole event. There was a 10.00 cover charge that was totally donated to our cause.

The day was perfect---Weather wise-- The sun was out and many attendees enjoyed the outdoor patio as well as the cool air in the Bar .People began to arrive shortly after 3:00pm and that put all our minds at ease. As we all worried and wondered would there be anyone but us volunteers and band members etc that would show up???HEHEHE.We had just enough time to put the finishing touches on everything as the first band warmed up and got ready to Rock & Roll. We were having some very talented local bands play that day Bill Durst , Chris Trowell Band ,Robbie Antone's Blues Machine . A great addition came at the end of the evening with a big finale of all the bands playing together in what they call a JAM.It brought the house a rocking to everyone's delight.The bands donated their time and talent to us that day and all gave 110% From the sound system and all the bands voices and instruments the whole Bar sounded like a big fantastic party A HAPPENING EVENT!!!

The owner operator of The Eastside Bar and Grill also graciously donated the establishment for our event.The staff worked very hard all day and with a steady flow of ppl the staff was definitely kept busy serving drinks to those that were hot and thirsty and to those that were hungry from the yummy smells coming from the kitchen.I had some of their fries they were hot enough to burn you tongue and so crunchy that they were addictive to eat.Needless to say a whole basket of fries were finished quickly at our table.HEHEHE

We also had many prizes donated and had draws during the breaks. We had gift baskets of>>Fruit and Candles and Bath Assessories and Pet doggie and Kitty Treats....Gift Certificates from a Hairdresser...Bowling night at Fleetway....Kingsmills one of London's oldest Dept Stores ....Wine glasses....And several corn/oat heating bags....T shirts and Snow fleece tops....And Tickets from 102.3 BOB FM Radio to our Annual Blues Festival In The Park.

We also had three 50/50 draws.The door prize was a Framed Print (click to see) by Bill .It was a composite made up of bits and pieces from his Graffiti Series of London Ontario .

A SPECIAL ACCOLADE MUST BE GIVEN TO Bill's family and friends and all the great supporters he had behind him . They all worked endlessly and with great enthusiasm from the beginning stages of this idea all the way to its wonderful ending.

Awareness & Fundraiser Concert

UPDATE:  Thundermug will not be making an appearance.  Sorry folks.

As the date approaches for our first ever Scleroderma event in London things have been a little hectic.  This past Saturday Soul Medix pulled out of out the line up.   By Monday  The Chris Trowell Band had stepped in to replace them and we also found out that Thundermug would be reuniting to make a guest appearance.  All of this meant designing and printing up new posters as the old ones were now obsolete.  While I was at it I also printed up 250 more tickets.   And so the line up now appears as follows:

Set 1 - Chris Trowell Band

Set 2 - Robbie Antone's Blues Machine

Set 3 - Bill Durst 

Open Jam

 

Sets are to be approximately 45 minutes beginning at 3:00 and the jam will officially end at 8:00 but who knows where it will lead.