Great music for a great cause set for March 5 at MHS
‘Rock n Roll’ concert to raise funds to fight malaria
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–Benefit concerts are nothing new, but when the members of the band are Methodist preachers and lay leaders, and they play “rock n roll” that adds a lot of interest.
The very successful Connections Band has given nearly 30 concerts in the last few years, most of them tributes to artists or bands, including the Eagles, Chicago, Doobie Brothers, Elton John and James Taylor.
“There’s something inherently trustworthy about a minister who can rock out,” one fan said after a show to band leader the Rev. Eric Folkerth, pastor of Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas.
He and several others while on a clergy retreat stayed up late one night playing songs by Dan Fogelberg. That led to a tribute concert to Fogelberg, whose hits included “Leader of the Band.” That 2006 success encouraged the idea for a clergy-fronted band that would do shows for charity.
The band has been well received everywhere it has performed. Its chosen charity is a the UMC’s disaster relief fund and an anti-malaria campaign in Africa.
This unique and gifted group is coming to Mabank to raise funds for it Africa campaign.
The 15-member band is more suggestive in its makeup of Blood, Sweat and Tears than the Beatles.
So, if it is “still rock and roll” to you and you’d like to spend an evening remembering when you “just called to say I love you,” area Methodist churches invite you to join them from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, for a night of great music from the 60s and 70s and a little later.
Music highlighting the classic tunes of Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder will be featured. Or maybe you are too young to remember, but you just like really good music and a fun evening with friends while helping a great cause – either way – don’t miss this great night in Mabank!
Staged at the Mabank High School auditorium, the “Rock n Roll” concert is free.
The show includes two or three breaks in the action when a collection will be taken up and light refreshments offered.
Thousands of people have enjoyed their music and helped them raise more than $100,000 for the humanitarian projects of the United Methodist Church.
Donations will support efforts to eliminate the disease of malaria from sub-Saharan Africa, where every 45 seconds a child dies from this preventable disease.
We can stop it! The “Imagine No Malaria” campaign began last year with the goal of raising $75 million.
The campaign has distributed close to a million insecticide-treated bed nets to protect the children from mosquitoes who transmit the disease.
Progress is being made, fewer children are dying, but even one child is one too many. “We can make a change – we can be the change!”
This concert is sponsored by the United Methodist churches of Mabank, Kemp, Aley, College Mound, Kaufman, Terrell and Poetry. The wonderful cooks from those churches will also be having a bake sale to accompany the concert, starting at 6 p.m. The concert starts at 7 p.m.
For more information about the concert contact any of the churches or e-mail estonwill@aol.com.  Check out the band’s website www.connectionsband.net  and www.ImagineNoMalaria.org  to learn more about the international efforts to remove the scourge of malaria from the face of the earth.
Help spread the word!

 

Rotarians hear AARP tax help history
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
GUN BARREL CITY–Citizens who need help with filing their income tax returns can get free help from AARP volunteers through April 15.
Pete Wilson of Tool presented facts about the history of AARP’s free tax service to members of the Rotary Club of Cedar Creek Lake at the club’s weekly luncheon Friday.
“The program is in its 42nd year, with 38,000 aides serving two million customers,” Wilson said.
Volunteers undergo Internal Revenue Service training and certification each year, beginning in December, he explained.
“There are three locations around the lake – at Athens (senior citizens center), the Malakoff Senior Center and The Library at Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points,” Wilson said.
Changes are constant, such as an all-out effort to get the younger taxpayers to seek help from AARP and to get all filers to take advantage of the e-file at irs.gov.
“I suggest that within 10 years, or even less, we will all be using e-file for returns,” Wilson added.
Volunteer tax help service is satisfying to those who like to help others, he said.
“Volunteers sign on in December, work like the dickens until April, and then you’re done,” Wilson said.
In other business, Rotarians heard:
• the annual RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Association) camp took place the weekend of Feb. 12.
• next week’s luncheon (Friday, Feb. 18) will feature the annual 4-Way Speech contest, and possibly a RYLA camper reporting on camp events.
• the visiting Japanese students will arrive Wednesday, March 16.
• the club’s annual golf tournament is set for Friday, May 6.

 

‘That’s Amore’ has been rescheduled
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–That’s Amore, the Mabank High School Choir’s dinner show, was rescheduled for Friday, March 4, due to the weather.
If you have purchased tickets, please hang on to them as no tickets will be sold at the door.
The tickets are still valid for a wonderful evening of Italian food and great entertainment.
The Italian meal will be catered and the waiters and waitresses will be the choir students.
These students will also be providing the entertainment for the evening.
Students will be performing solos, ensembles and choral numbers – including such favorites as “I’ll Be There,” “That’s Amore,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” and more.
Proceeds from the evening will go toward supporting the choir as they will be competing in Keller and Dallas this spring.
For more information, call the MHS Fine Arts office at (903) 880-1620.
Thank you for supporting the choir and for joining us in this wonderful evening of music, fun and love.
 

 

Come Adopt Us At The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake

We have many animals at the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points in dire need of a good home. Please call or stop by the Humane Society today and rescue one of these forgotten animals. The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake is located on 10220 County Road 2403 in Seven Points. For more information, please call (903) 432-3422 after 11 a.m. We are closed on Wednesday and Sunday.

For further information visit our website at petfinder.com