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CoolAID halfway to fundraising goal

Jennifer Geens
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 14/05) - The CoolAID concert had already raised half of its $10,000 goal by Wednesday, and the event doesn't start until 6 p.m. tonight.

The money raised so far has come from advance ticket sales, as well as donations by individuals and businesses.


NNSL

Brad Hussey performs with Captain McTinkle's Magical Parade recently at the Polar Bowl. This band will be one of the louder acts upstairs at the Top Knight. - NNSL file photo


Robin Wasicuna, the event's organizer, characterized ticket sales as "stupendous."

Tickets went on sale last Friday at 4 p.m. and by Monday at 10 a.m., Javaroma had sold out its allocation of 100 tickets. Nearly 250 tickets in all have been sold at Javaroma and Overlander Sports and another 50 rush tickets will be available at the Black Knight starting at 5 p.m. tonight.

There will be more opportunities for Yellowknifers to raise money during the evening by purchasing CoolAID T-shirts, CoolAID shooters and CDs donated by the performers.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Canadian Red Cross for tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia.

"The response was amazing," said Wasicuna. "Everyone came together so quickly without any hesitation. I have to give a huge thank you to all the musicians who put so much of their time and energy into this."

Yellowknife businesses have also pitched in. Mark's Work Warehouse donated the T-shirts and Inkit is printing the CoolAID logo onto them. Fiddles and Stix is providing skins for the drums and picks for the guitars. Boston Pizza has even offered to feed the organizing committee on Saturday, when they finally have some time to stop and eat.

This week Wasicuna has been working from 5 a.m. to midnight every day, juggling his business and the co-ordination of the event.

The Top Knight will host the harder rock bands, such as Mandeville Drive, Diga, Sex and Salvelinus, Captain McTinkle's Magical Parade and Hussdog and Friends.

Downstairs at the Black Knight will be the solo and acoustic artists, such as Tracy Riley, Lyndon Duong, Steve Smith and Leslie Bader. Other artists will include Rick and the Relics, Rough Touch, Anodyne, Randy Sibbeston and Laurie Serkadi.

Performers will get about 30 minutes each onstage. The music starts at 6 p.m. downstairs and 8 p.m. upstairs.