Thus continues the story of the making of the Greatest Musical Event ever. You can catch the first part here.

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Ideas are easy. Bringing them to life is … less easy.

By the time Dana and I had wiped the cookie crumbs from our table at the patisserie, we were decided. We were going to move ahead with this benefit concert idea. As we waved goodbye and got into our cars, we were moving out of the idea stage and into action.

Now, I’ve  been involved in a lot of event creation in my life. I used
to do it for a living. And as a singer, I’ve had
to create, promote, organize and produce my own shows, many of which
were benefits for local non-profits like the Lomi Clinic and Sonoma
Country Day School. So, I knew what I was getting into.

But I didn’t. I never anticipated that things would unfold as they did.

It started with the singers and musicians. I asked my ideal dream team
of singers if they would perform in this show for nothing. Zip. Nada. I
asked Wesla Whitfield, Terese Genecco, and Ernie Shelton, all of whom
are busy, in-demand singers with heavy schedules. They all said "Yes."

I asked Mike Greensill to be our musical director and pianist. I
asked Tom Shader to play bass. I told both of them there was no money
in it right now but there might be if I could get enough sponsors to
fund our expenses. They both said "Yes." Actually, Mike said,
"Absolutely!"

I asked my friend Karen Pierce Gonzalez if she would handle all the
press and media for this event. I asked Judy Baker of Completely Creative if she would design
our program. For nothing. They both said "Yes." I didn’t even have to
ask Bonnie Willette of MInuteman Press in Santa Rosa if she would
donate the printing of the program; she came to me and said she’d love
to do it.

Wow, that was easy! Surely the really hard work would come when I tried to get sponsors. I wanted to raise at
least $1,000, hopefully $ 1,500 in sponsorship donations so all the costs of the concert would be covered and I might be able to pay the musicians a little something. Again, I went
to friends, people I knew personally, mostly because I didn’t have time
to do otherwise. I needed help fast.

I started with Terry Davis at Summit State Bank, a man who gets hit
up every day for a donation for this and that. Terry’s sponsored other
musical events I’ve created for other causes. And while
I hated to take advantage of our strange but wonderful friendship, I felt that Terry and his
bank just might love this cause: helping local high school kids go on
tour to compete.

As always, Terry came through and we had our first sponsor! Then my
friend and frustrated musical event producer Craig Ahlswede from Staff Resources, Inc. donated. My friend Deb Meyers
of Health at Your Fingertips donated. My friends Jim and Sandy Shelton
gave us just what we needed to pay the musicians (yeah!) and last but
certainly not least, my old boss and friend Bill Mabry of Aegis
Signature Living gave us a sponsorship donation that took us over my
goal of $1,500!

All of this felt amazing and magical. Never had I experienced such immediate generosity and wilingness to help from so many people! I would talk to Dana and say, "This show is meant to be. It has its own momentum. It’s got a life of its own!" I was a part of something that was SO much bigger than me, something bigger than my efforts or desire to
make this show a success. And it felt great!

Until things started to get very, very scary.
More tomorrow…