Submitted photo Jennie DeVoe will open the Our Hospice of South Central Indiana concert Aug. 31.
Calling all Cookie Monsters: One of the sweetest parts of fundraising for the upcoming Aug. 31 Our Hospice of South Central Indiana Labor Day Weekend Concert is set Aug. 20-21.
Hospice will sell homemade cookies — chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, oatmeal, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies — from noon to 5 p.m. rain or shine at Lincoln Park ball diamonds, 2501 Lincoln Park Drive off 25th Street in Columbus. Three dozen cookies will be available for a minimum of $20 or more (donation).
Hospice souvenir T-shirts also will be available in sizes adult small to triple extra large for $20. Concert raffle tickets for a $10,000 prize also will be available for $10. People need not be present at concert’s end to win.
The concert, held through the years at the Bartholomew County Public Library Plaza, Columbus North High School gym, or Mill Race Park, is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at Circle K Fieldhouse at NexusPark, 2224 25th St. in Columbus. Opening acts will be Jennie Devoe and then The RockShow: The Ultimate Tribute to Journey. The Woomblies Rock Orchestra, making its third hospice concert appearance, is the headliner, with a setlist that includes plenty of brass with covers of groups such as Electric Light Orchestra and many others.
Though the hospice concert quickly became known as a classic rock event, it actually began Sept. 5, 1987, with the Glenn Miller Orchestra at the library plaza with support from the Arvin Foundation, a key supporter for years to cover the cost of the entertainment.
This marks the first time that the event will be planned for indoors from the very beginning. In the past, rain from hurricanes days beforehand pushed it inside with groups such as Three Dog Night in 2012 or canceled it entirely several times in recent years after months of preparation.
Organizers pointed out through the years that an event with such elaborate stage setup alone could not change venues quickly enough on the day of the gathering when rain came.
Tickets for $10 are available at https://ourhospice.org/concert. About 500 tickets have been sold so far, according to Julie Davis.
Attendees must provide their own seating. Organizers are prohibiting coolers and are not allowing ticket holders to bring in food to the venue.
The venue will be set up for a maximum of 3,000 people. A beer garden will be available for the first time. The fieldhouse will provide concessions inside the venue.
The concert is the non-profit’s biggest fundraiser of the year, providing support for the almost 300 patients and their families facing life-limiting illnesses and being cared for in 22 counties in south central Indiana.
Last year’s concert before an estimated 6,000 people with pop headliner Sister Hazel at Mill Race Park netted an estimated $139,000.
The fundraisers also include a fish fry meal event for donations of any amount (also going to Turning Point Domestic Violence Services) from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Elks Lodge No. 521, 4664 Ray Boll Boulevard in Columbus. Organizers are preparing enough fish for approximately 1,000 meals, according to volunteer Al McKown.
He has been a part of other groups that have raised thousands of dollars for hospice and Turning Point in the past.
Concert tickets
Tickets for $10 are available at https://ourhospice.org/concert.
