15th Annual Rock, Rhythm and Blues Festival rides on
despite Hurricane Hannah!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday,
September 20, 2008
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A Wish Come True Foundation was the real star of
the recent 15th Annual Rock, Rhythm and Blues Festival at the Holy Ghost Club
fairgrounds in Westport. Hurricane Hannah tried to spoil the fun, but she was
quickly ushered out Saturday night. “We were worried there for a while,” said Frank ‘Frankie’ Ray.
Established
in 1982, A Wish Come True, Inc. (AWCT) services families in Rhode Island and
the nearby Southeastern, Massachusetts area by granting the wishes of children
ages three to 18 who are struggling with life-threatening medical conditions.
The non-profit celebrated its 26th anniversary this year, granting an average
of 70-80 wishes annually. According to Rosemary L.
Bowers, Founder & Regional Director, “A Wish Come True, Inc. was founded as a non-profit organization,
granting children between the ages of 3 through 18 their most cherished wish.
The mission and goal would be to grant every medically qualified child “one
memorable wish.” A Wish Come True, Inc. was the first organization of its kind in
this area, granting wishes to 12 children in the first year.”
Frankie Ray
is a most cherished friend of A Wish Come
True. Mr. Ray announced that the Westport
Music Festival raised $27,763 with nearly 1,000 music lovers in attendance. A
Wish Come True, Inc. is Rhode Island’s oldest wish-granting nonprofit.
Contributing to that total was a $3,035 donation by the New Bedford
Moose Lodge #914, and $5,800 generated by a University of
Massachusetts/Dartmouth Sports Marketing class fundraising project, presented
by Professor Nicole Castonguay. The 2008 festival
boosted the event’s fundraising total since inception, to well over $360,000.
“Hurricane Hannah dampened the
streets but didn’t dampen the spirits of the motorcycle riders who came out to
support this important fundraiser!”
“The Motorcycle Fun Run was a little less than we hoped for
as Hurricane Hannah dampened the streets but didn’t dampen the spirits of the
20 or so riders who came out to support our event,” said festival chairman
Frank ‘Frankie’ Ray, who orchestrated the noontime arrival of the bikers and
riders in the fifth annual rally, from Dave’s Beach in Fall River to the Holy
Ghost Club fairgrounds in Westport, that kick-starts the concert. According to
Ray, more than 200 persons also attended the Friday night Chicken BBQ,
featuring the bluegrass band Bud Smith & Friends.
Bud Smith
and Friends always put on a good show, and there’s no better way to kick up
your heels than after a chicken barbeque with good buddies and even better
beer!
Hurricane
Hannah blew through Saturday bringing a little rain but not enough of anything
else to keep the more hardy party-goers and fans from enjoying their favorite
bands. The Blues Train and Shot in the
Dark played up a storm and gave great performances. Meanwhile the food
flowed and the beer flowed and the money flowed into the raffles and the 50/50,
all to benefit A Wish Come True.
From
left to right: (1) Rita Lopes of Fall River has been volunteering at the
Festival for eight years; (2) Dori Legge of the Blues Train Band cutting through the rain with
a hot number; (3) Helllloooo ladies!; (4) Helllloooo ladies!; and (5) Shot in the Dark rocked!
Saturday’s
music line-up missed the appearance of the horn band Mr. Chubb, but included performances by Fall River’s favorite
roadhouse blues band Shot in the Dark,
followed at 4 p.m. by one of the South Coast region’s favorite blues quintets,
the Blues Train Band, that
celebrated the release of its first CD last February. Noted for its ‘danceability’ the band’s ensemble of Westport and
Dartmouth-based musicians include Jack Jennings, Donn
Legge, Dori Legge and Paul Raymond. The rain was dripping from the tent,
but Blues Train gamely played on! Carrying the crowd into the evening hours,
starting 5:30 p.m., was a festival newcomer, Wolf & the Jam Daddies, a four-piece blues band featuring Fall
River’s Bruce ‘Wolf’ Murgia.
Rita Lopes,
a Festival volunteer from Fall River, recalled a story from last year’s
festival when a woman came in and thanked the Festival’s organizers. “You sent
my child to Disneyworld last year,” she said. “I wanted to thank you so much.
My son died two months ago.”
Melissa Jendreau and Phil Ponte of Fall River (below left) stood
beside their Harley Sportster. “We love this ride,”
Melissa said. David Raposa (below center left) of
Westport with his ‘underpowered’ Suzuki 1800 cc Boulevard just smiled. Ya right! Others just tried to stay dry. Debra Guay (below right) of Little Compton was doin’ the donuts!
The sun in
Sunday came out in the morning and the rest of the Festival shifted to high
gear.
Kicking off
the dance party on Sunday at 1 p.m. was Louie
Leeman and Cheap Sneakers (below left), a
talented mix of musicians from Westport and Fall River. Fans of Tower of Power,
Earth Wind and Fire and James Brown reveled in the 2:30 p.m. performance of Soul Power (below, center right), a
dynamic 11-piece show band featuring Rhode Island’s David Cherry (below right),
with George Correia, Wayne Manning, Chris Bryant, Tom
Khoury, Ron Machado, Don Dupre,
Philip Mullen, ‘Saxman’ Dave, Frank ‘Frankie Ray’,
and Rick Couto.
Betsey
Griffin (above, center left) of Swansea, a third year volunteer was busy
selling raffle tickets but had time to lend an ear to Sanctuary. “The bands are
the best aren't they? My favorite band
is Sanctuary. They were the last band to play Sunday night. They
had broken up, but got back together just for this event.”
Leading
into the evening at 4 p.m. was the seven-piece Fall River-based ‘party band’ Wild Nites and C
& B Horns. Its repertoire includes Top 40 hits, funk, classic and
modern rock, as well as rhythm-and-blues favorites. Musicians include Joe Joynt, Chad Mazzarella, John ‘V’ Vasconcellos, John Furtado, Todd Salpietro,
John Sousa, Rob Charest, and Ray Vasconcellos.
Starting at 5:30 p.m., the New Bedford-based 80’s tribute band Memory Lane,
with Sanctuary’s Fred Ponte, closes the concert. The original group Sanctuary
(pictured below, center right) got back together for this one performance in a
tribute to Frankie Ray and A Wish Come
True.
A lot of
the lost income from Saturday was recovered on Sunday as great weather and a
spectacular turnout kept the Holy Ghost Grounds hopping. By the time the silent
auction closed and the raffle began, the bins were full of tickets, and the
50/50 raffle was still selling tickets.
A big
surprise came when Nicole Castonguay, a Professor of
Sports Marketing at UMass, presented a check for $5800 to A Wish Comes True’s Rosemary L. Bowers.
Nicole had organized her students into various groups to provide a competitive
environment in fundraising through innovative marketing campaigns. The winner? Why A Wish Comes True
of course (see picture upper left). Ordinary folks doing
extraordinary things for a very worthwhile cause.
Nicole Castonguay (below left) pictured with Chuck Gregory of the Southcoast Tribune pulled the winning
ticket for the 50/50 raffle and a man called ‘Crow’ (below, center left) was
the big winner! Other raffle winners of note: our state representative Michael Rodriques (below right), police officer on duty Mike Roussel, and Rosemary Bowers of A Wish Come True!
The
RR&B festival is the brainchild of Westport's Frankie Ray and friends. When
Mr. Ray, a member of the band Soul Power, originated the idea for the festival,
he wanted the proceeds to go to charity. He picked A Wish Come True, a nonprofit that has been granting wishes to
children with life-threatening illnesses since 1982. To refer a child, contact A Wish Come True Inc. at
Ray is also grateful for the generosity of sponsors, including Colonial
Beverage, Holiday Travel of Westport, R.E.S. Transport/Bob Sieminski,
Chuck Gregory/Southcoast
Tribune, and the Sodom Road Holy Ghost Club, as well as the
contributions of Jacques Lonchay of New England Live
Audio, Pat & Mike’s Ice Cream, R & S Rental/Richard
Sousa, Lil’ Audrey’s Markets/Carl Santos,
Dave Lechan’s Pony Express Rides, Simply Simons
Restaurant/Gary Simons, Bostonian Carpentry, and the Rutowski
family of Fall River.
Persons
wishing to volunteer for the September 2008 16th Annual Westport Rock Rhythm
& Blues Festival are encouraged to contact Frank Ray via phone (508) 636-8346,
fax (508) 636-7180, or e-mail HolidayTravel1@wmconnect.com.
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