We had an amazing night at the Dana Patterson Memorial Concert to benefit the Cooper Brazell Foundation! I had not heard of this event before, but we had seen the Van Lears last year at a Georgia Tech game and had loved their music. When I was looking for Christmas things to do, this came up and I looked for tickets. The tickets were only $15 so I decided to get them for all of us. Other than hearing the Van Lears, I had no real idea what to expect.
When we arrived, we found our seats in the balcony. This was also our first time visiting the Gem Theater even though I drove past it every day throughout its renovation and opening. The theater was amazing and I had bought seats against the back wall because I don’t like people sitting behind me. The view was amazing. I have been to many venues and usually I feel like I am not even close to the action. Even being as far away as possible from the stage, it was almost as if we were right in the middle of the concert. We settled in for the show!
I had heard Jule Medder years ago, so I sort of knew what to expect, but he was even better. White Water Junction played some amazing music and did an incredible job. The kids loved them and they are unbelievably talented. Momma Faye and the Van Lears then really entertained. I think the Van Lears are amazing young men. We talked to them after the show and they are just down to earth good guys who have some incredible talents and I think one day we will be able to say we saw them when they were on the rise. We will probably be sitting in the nose bleed section at the Benz for that concert, but I’m sure it will still be worth it. This community produces incredible people and I am proud to say that I taught so many of them over my 30 years in teaching.
After that, there was even more. Thom Bresh was so very entertaining. He told stories and played some amazing music. He had us all, along with the entire audience, cracking up. He played for almost 45 minutes. The concert had already been going for almost 2 hours when James Otto added some more great songs.
After all of this, it still wasn’t over. After telling the story of Christmas and singing a sweet song, the entire group came back out and played a full set of Christmas music. Not sure what her name is, but the little girl that sang Rudolf is another future star in the making! She was incredible. The concert finally wrapped up at about 10:20 after almost 3 and a half hours’ worth of great entertainment.
But even that wasn’t then end. We were offered free hot wings and coffee at the Vela Vineyard next door along with visits with Santa Claus and the artists. We all went over and got pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Van Lears, and Thom Bresh, but the kids were winding down so we headed out for home.
Aside from the amazing entertainment, this was an effort to honor Dana Patterson and help the Cooper Brazell Foundation. My only complaint was that they should charge more, but when I said that to Momma Faye, she just shook her head and said they wanted to make sure it stayed something the community could afford. Rarely in life do you get way more out of something than you pay for, but in this case, we got to do some good while having one of the best times ever. This will be one of our traditions from now on. I hope they continue for many years to come!
I also intend to add my support to the Gem Theater and the Cooper Brazell Foundation because supporting them is supporting this community and events like this in the future. I have lived in Rome my whole life, but Calhoun is my adopted home town because I have spent more of my adult life here than anywhere else. I hope all of those involved in this event have a very blessed Christmas. They have earned a little extra blessing this year! Merry Christmas to all of you as well!
