Your future, our focus
POWELL, Wyo. - Ronnie Bedford and Friends are looking to swing some dollars to the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic with a "Swing into Spring" jazz evening Wednesday, May 6. The swinging gets underway at 7:30 p.m. in the Nelson Performing Arts Center Auditorium in Powell.
"We're doing this up right," Bedford, a long-time Park County jazz legend, said. "We have great door prizes and a program that will make any mother feel special for Mothers Day. We're planning an eclectic summation of the jazz genre that touches on the straight ahead stuff, funky pieces, the standards and a mix of jazz stylings."
Bedford said the mood will not only be swinging, it will be celebratory. "We're lucky to have healthcare professionals in Powell who are willing to give so much to the community through the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic (HMVMC). And especially lucky to have visionaries like Nick and Madelyn Morris to get it all started."
Proceeds from the concert will benefit the HMVMC, which provides free professional outpatient, non-emergency, acute and chronic primary medical care to Big Horn Basin residents whose gross income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, are uninsured or underinsured and do not qualify for any other healthcare programs.
"With this concert, we want to do more than raise money for the clinic," Bedford said. "We want to celebrate Powell's community spirit and all the people who play a part in it. Spring is a good time to stop and smell the roses, and that's what we intend to do - only with our ears instead of our noses."
Bedford's friends for this concert include five instrumentalists and the Northwest Singers, directed by Mike Masterson. In addition to Bedford on drums, the evening features Craig Olson on saxophones, Robert Rumbolz on trumpet and flugelhorn, Jeff Troxel on guitar, Erik Olson on piano and Parker Brown on bass.
Tickets are $15 apiece or $25 for two. A limited number of NWC student tickets are priced at $5 apiece. Tickets will be sold at the door and are available in advance in Powell at Parlor News Coffeehouse and the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce, or by calling Keli Black at (307) 754-6425. In Cody, they can be purchased at the Cody Newsstand and Cody Country Chamber of Commerce.
Extra donations will be accepted gladly on behalf of the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic.