Concert series, events aid leukemia society

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has some upcoming events this summer to get us in gear for the fifth annual “Light the Night Walk,” which will be held on Friday, Sept. 5.

We are going to host a three-part concert series, which will begin Sunday, July 22 at the Meta Rose Square in the Make-a-Scene concert room. The featured bands for this concert will be Theory of Hate, Suicide Nation, Ash Tree Lane and What May Fall.

On July 20, at the Palmer Depot, we’ll have Grover Neely, Jeremy Strunk, and Josh Fryfogle.

The third and final concert will be on Aug. 10 at Make-a-Scene. Dusty Bannon, Suicide Nation, and UTN Records will be performing. All concerts begin at 6 p.m. and admission is $10. All proceeds go to the LLS.

We will be having a kick-off party from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 11 at Vagabond Blues. Lori has graciously agreed to donate 10 percent of sales between these hours to the LLS. Please come and sign up to be a team captain or join an existing team. Marty Raney, Phil White, J-Lee and the Time to Live Boys, and the Derry Aires will be performing. There will be no cover charge.

We owe a big thank you to Kristy Simpson, owner of Bouncin’ Bears, who recently donated $550 toward this year’s walk. Many children took part in this special “Bounce for Leukemia” day at Bouncin’ Bears on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Big thanks to our corporate sponsors Midnight Sun Oncology and KMBQ Radio Station for their contributions. If your business is interested in becoming a sponsor or organizing a team, or if you are an individual interested in walking or volunteering, please call me at 373-1528. We are also accepting items for our silent auction, which will be held on the night of the walk.

Our annual Kathleen Walker-Williams and Logan J. Marre Memorial Bone Marrow Drive will be held again this year at the walk. Registering for the national registry is an easy process; a simple swab inside your cheek is all it takes!

For more information on the Light the Night Walk, please go to lightthenight.org and click on the Wasilla walk. Although this walk is held in Wasilla, it is a Valley event and we invite everyone in the Mat-Su Valley to participate.

We hope that you can join us in the upcoming activities as we prepare to make the 2008 walk the best year ever!

Kelly Marre

Mat-Su Valley event chair