Moondance
Jam Army raises money for Hometown Proud
by Dean Morrill, Editor
The Pilot-Independent
Friday, July 19th, 2002
The recruiters were out in full force to sign up recruits for the Moondance
Jam Army.
Even though they didn't hit the target of raising $10,000 to support
Operation Hometown Proud, Bill Bieloh said Moondance Jam will continue
the push to raise the money before the year ends.
Bieloh, Moondance Jam's Army Chief of Staff, said more than $4,000 was
collected during the four-day campin' and jammin' festival. More than
200 people signed up as recruits, privates, second lieutenants, captains,
majors, colonels and generals.
"We were a little disappointed in the gross, but I don't think
people really knew what it was all about," said Bieloh. "We
didn't really get the stage time I really wanted to promote it to the
jammers."
Money collected at the Jam support Operation Hometown Proud. Operation
Hometown Proud started July 4 and supports 2001 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
High School graduate Private First Class Neil Nelson and B Company, 1st
Battalion, 505 Infantry Parachute Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division
at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Walker American Legion adopted Bravo Company
to support them while performing their mission overseas. The battalion
has been mobilized to fight the War of Terrorism in Afghanistan for six
to nine months.
The red, white and blue theme at Moondance Jam 11 also included a fly-by
of two F-16s from the Duluth Air National Guard and a video highlighting
area men and women who are serving their country in the Armed Forces.
Bieloh said he got a tremendous response from people on the fly-by and
the video. The video, produced by Walker's Mike Gardner, will be live
fed on the moondancejam.com site, and will be copied and given to the
family of the service members featured.
Bieloh, who was standing on the stage at the time the two F-16s did
their second pass and turned on their after burners, said the 40,000
pound stage shook.
Through local contributions to Bravo Company, Walker and surrounding
hometowns will be able to share their pride for every Hometown Hero.
Groups interested in adopting a squad of soldiers (12 to 14) can call
Kelly or Jeanne Nelson at (218) 547-2222.
MOONDANCE NEWS
|
