The Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department Annual Music Bash is set for Thursday, July 8, at 7 p.m.
The concert series is a huge fundraiser for the fire department, looking to supplement the fund received from the state.
“The money will go to everyday maintenance costs for the building, everyday operational for the department,” explained Paco Grimmett of the Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department. “It’ll go for fuel for the trucks, maintenance for the trucks, gear for our members, stuff we may need. It could be used for education, classes we need. The funds will keep the fire department up and running.”
The concert series began in 2018, as attendance for bingo nights funding the department dwindled down in the years leading up to the first concert. Bingo nights were becoming an expense due to workman’s compensation costs rather than a fundraiser for firefighters willing to work it – they were ended and a committee was formed to find a new way to raise money.
“[The concert] started as a joke and that’s no lie,” said Grimmett in 2018. “It was a huge, three-day event, and then we stopped, came back to the drawing board and thought ‘what about a small-scale event that we can afford?’”
Since then, the department has held two Annual Music Bashes, with the 2020 event cancelled due to COVID-19.
“Last year was supposed to be Riley Green, but we ended up with COVID,” Grimmett said. “We were able to reschedule, so all of this just fell right back into place. COVID took us out for 2020 but we’re coming back for 2021. … This is going to be the biggest one we’ve had. We’re excited to see that and to get back to our community. With COVID, everybody has been shut in their house, not necessarily with cabin fever, but I guess you could say with COVID fever,” laugh. “I mean that this is the first big thing to get out and go to.”
This year, Riley Green will take the stage, with a Todd Cameron opening. According to his website, Green was recently named “ 2020 ACM Awards New Male Artist of the Year,” with songs such as the “GOLD-certified debut ‘There Was This Girl’ and PLATINUM-certified ballad ‘I Wish Grandpas Never Died.’”
The team attempts to keep the tickets affordable while still fundraising for the department.
“Track tickets, which are standing room only, are about $20. Box seats are still available for $18. Grandstand seats are $15. It’s very family affordable or for a date night. Big concerts in Charleston can be $50 for a ticket, then you have to pay to park, buy drinks, it can be a $100 investment. Ours is very affordable and it supports your local fire department. It helps us help you – it keeps us up and running.”
Concessions will be available, offering “fried Oreos, funnel cakes, dessert stuff, a pepperoni roll station” and “the Fairgrounds will be selling adult beverages.”
In addition to the cost of admission and concessions, a signed guitar will be auctioned off and 50/50 ticket drawing is currently planned.
Grimmett thanked the State Fair of West Virginia for providing a location for the concert, tailgating, and camping.
“The State Fair is 100 percent on our side,” Grimmett said. “If we need it, they either help with it or do whatever [we need]. Kelly Collins is awesome and her staff goes out of their way to help with anything we need. … We make sure people are in stations for the whole week of the State Fair, just in case there’s any type of emergency for them. We help each other, but when it comes to something like this, they help us a lot and we’re very grateful.”
Grimmett also thanked each of the sponsors and the volunteers working up to and during the event.
“It’s going to be an early Thursday morning, starting somewhere around 7 a.m., filtering into the fairgrounds, and the last person leaves around 4 a.m. Friday morning, if not later,” Grimmett said. “We don’t leave it for the fairgrounds to clean up.”
For example, the concerts now need their own stage.
“We had to rent a stage – when it comes in, we have to put it up,” Grimmett explained. “It’ll be in Tuesday and we have to have six or eight strong backed people. When the concert is over, and everyone clears out, we’ve got to tear the stage down.
Riley Green’s “Behind the Bar,” a collection of new music, released on July 2.
Tickets to the event can be found at etix.com, by calling 1-800-514-etix, or by scanning the QR code found on the Fairlea Volunteer Fire Department Annual Music Bash Facebook page.
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