Quote:
Originally posted by Peter Alicea:
Hi Folks,
Last night (Saturday,March 11) we had our benefit show to raise money for a local chapter of the Survivors and Friends Cancer group. For those that are interested, I had asked Bill Hall if he was interested in coming to Pennsylvania to lend his support. Bill jumped at the chance to visit and perform a set of music.
I just want all of you to know that Bill performed wonderfully. His voice is so mellow and soft. All in attendance gave Bill a very well deserved standing ovation at the close of his set.
I just want to publicly thank you Bill, for all that you have done for us folk in Lebanon,Pa. There were quite a few cancer survivors in the audience whom were lifted up by your wonderful voice and wise words of encouragement to "never give up hope". We all could tell that your words came from the heart. So many people told me afterwards, how happy they felt listening to your music. You are truly a great person of character and an equally great Singer/Songwriter. I feel truly blessed to have been able to meet you.
Thanks, Bill, for lending a helping hand to people in their time of trouble and need.
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Peter, Laurel, Charzo Deb Thanks so much!
Peter,
It is I who am so thankful for the privilidge and honor of playing in the same show with such great musicians and performers as you, Dave, Dale and Chris for this great cause. Lebanon will always be a special place for me after this weekend and I will be back anytime you need me. I know a lot of our mutual friends on the group were really pulling for us as they always do and I just wanted to tell them about this weekend in some detail. I don't want to get too sappy (I know...our chat room pals are saying "yeah right Bill") but I do want to tell them what a special time we all had. Debbie n her response to you said ...Peter ...."I hear you were pretty great yourself! He was Deb! What follows are my thoughts and memories of this weekend:
A number of months ago my friend Peter Alicia asked me if I would be interested in playing at a benefit to honor cancer survivors and to raise money for cancer research in Lebanon PA. Peter did this for me because he wanted to give me a chance to participate in something special in memory of my daughter Dana, help cure this horrible disease and because he cares deeply about people. The concert is put on by a wonderful group of folks from the local - Survivors and Friends - chapter. This concert was organized by Peter's sister Allecia Imboden and her partner in orgazinzing this event Donna Schaeffer. Donna is herself a three year cancer survivor and doing great! The tireless work of these ladies, their families as well as the terrific support of the community in Lebanon PA and surrounding areas was truly inspiring to me!
In the weeks and days before I arrived, both Peter and Allicia called me, e-mailed me, worried about me and made sure that I was I was comfortable in every way. I have never felt so welcome!
On Friday my buddy Frank (a number of you guys know him)took the nice ride from NY to Lebanon PA (about 3 hours). Peter met us at the hotel and treated us to a fantastic "all you can eat" dinner. The three of us then went to meet one of Peter's best friends Dale. Dale is a fantastic banjo player (as I was to find out) ! Peter and Dale are two great of three great pals from from Peter's cool bluegrass band called "High School Reunion". You guys should here Peter play guitar!! He plays so crisp and clean that he sounds like Norman Blake! Sings great too. The third member being Dave Musslewhite, a superb guitar craftsman who has worked on vintage Martin guitars for many famous performers such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and even "Pottsie" from "Happy days. Dave also plays a mean mandolin!. Dave set-up our Cathy Cowette's Martin D-15 which Peter helped Cathy find! (Peter and Dave both say hello Cathy and are thrilled you are doing so well!) Like Peter, Dave and Dale are just plain great guys. It was like we all knew each other for years!
After arriving at Dale's place we loaded the sound gear in Peter's truck for transport to the Coleman Chapel Theater. Peter, Frank, Dale and I set up the equipment, did a sound check and we rehearsed a bit. I finally got to meet Allicia and Donna who were busy setting up this beautiful old converted church. Allecia and Donna left no stone unturned to make this a terrific event.. The room and the tables were just beautifully done. Finally we were all pretty tired and everyone agreed that it was time to go get some sleep. So we all closed shop for the night.
The next day was a busy day and went fast. We spent the afternoon rehearsing and helping Christopher Westfall, a fantastic performer
set up his gear! He has four beautiful custom made Taylors! I also visited Candyland
Let me explain! In the morning! Peter took us out to visit Dave's shop. Dave Musslewhite is truly an Artist. He knows every nuance of Martin Guitars. He is a expert on every wood type, model and time period of Martin.
I got to play vintage Martin guitars that you can only dream of! Thanks so much Dave and Peter!.
The evening started with a fantastic dinner at around 5:30. We had a wonderful sold out audience that loved music and deeply cared about the success of this event! The lighting in the Chapel theater was really magical with beautiful candle lite lanterns I was so thrilled when Peter surprised me by introducing me to my chatroom Pal Brian and his wife Gloria! They traveled 3 1/2 hours to get to this event and Peter and I are so appreciative!Brian's guitar picks (he makes them) were really liked by Peter and Dale when they tried them out!. I travel with them now! The dinner (Salad, spaghetti and meat balls, ice cream and cake) was wonderful. Peter, Dale and Dave were there with their wonderful wives and we all had a fun time at our table. We were soon ready to get started with the music!
Peter's great band started the show and performed beautiful bluegrass/folk numbers. Peter played mean lead guitar and sang great! Peter really got the audience going with "Me and Lorretta"!
Dale on banjo and Dave on mandolin were terrific. Dale played a beautiful song he wrote for his daughter who is a young cancer (18 years old) survivor and doing very well thank God! It was a truly moving moment! Peter, Dave and Dale were so darn good that they just set the tone for the whole evening. Peter is too modest a guy to tell you just how fantastic they were but I will. They did something that I have not seen in a long time. They used no pick-ups on their
instruments. Just some good microphones and played pure and clean acoustic music that was as beautiful and spirited as I have heard.
The star of the show was a fantastic performer named Christopher Westfall! He did beautiful tributes to John Denver and great songs of his own! He is a great guy as well. I have his link on my web site and I really recommend if you can see him live to go do it! He has three CD's.
I did my set of 8 songs between Chris's two sets. I was thrilled and honored and blessed to be there. I am so grateful to
the wonderful audience we had and the people from this great area of the country. There were many courageous people at the show
who are fighting cancer as well as there caregivers, families and friends. I am so happy that they had a good time and a few moments of peace.
We raised funds to fight cancer with this show which included not only dinner and music but a great raffle as well. It was a total team effort.
The owners of this beautiful theater/chapel donated the chapel to Allicia and Donna for this event! Allecia and Donna made beautiful gift packages for the performers! Allecia who is a huge John Denver fan presented Chris with a beautiful autographed framed photo of two great pictures of John Denver from his last concert. We were all happy for Chris. He reminded us of just how many great songs John Denver wrote and performed.
the Girls presented me with a beautiful hand painted butterfly frame with my daughter Dana's picture in it and a great ceramic butterfly box I will treasure it! Allecia, like Dana loves butterflies! We also got cool teddy bears with Martin guitar T-shirts, neat bags of M&M's and great flowers. Again, these wonderful ladies wanted to make sure that ever everyone knew they were part of a great thing. They took care of everyone. I will never forget this weekend! Special thanks to Peter, Allicia, Donna, Dave, Dale, Frank, Chris, Gloria and Brian - Survivors and Friends and the great community in and around Lebanon!
bill