The First Annual GI BLUES

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

          I've seen a lot of numbers being tossed around as to how much money was brought in from this event. I'm not sure where these people are getting their information, but let me be the one who sets the record straight. At the time I write this our balance for this event is just short of $1,800. That's all of the sponsorship fees, ticket sales, individual donations, and the money raised from the sale of food and beverages minus the costs of the bands, sound system, tents and chairs, licenses and bonds, PR costs, and the costs for food and beverages. There are a few outstanding items that would raise this total to just over $2,000. This is nowhere near the amounts I've seen tossed around in the press. One article called this event a "big success", but when you're talking about an event this size raising money to help our veterans $2,000 is not a "big success", it's shameful. Our veterans deserve better. Try telling them how twelve hours of great food and entertainment was a big success because it raised $2,000. Furthermore, we'd only be at $1,100 if two of the bands hadn't donated their fees back to Veteran's Haven. The Christy Howard Band and The Carl Caballero Band both donated their monies back at the end of their sets.

            I've said this before, but I'll say it again.... Our thanks and appreciation goes out to all of the many people who made this event possible. Everybody did an outstanding job putting this together. Even though we didn't meet our expectations I think we can all take pride in this first time effort. Now I hear that Veteran's Haven won't be the recipient of the proceeds from next year's fest, and that's fine with us. All we care about is helping our vets, so we hope everyone involved learns from this year's event and forges ahead to do better next year.

           Mark Hardy
        Acting President
     Veteran's Haven, Inc.