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Community Corner

'Play it Forward' Music Instrument Drive 'A Big Success'

Volunteers say, thanks to the program's successful month-long drive, many young students that otherwise wouldn't be able to will now have the chance to learn a musical instrument.

 

The first annual “Play it Forward” instrument donation drive, which just wrapped up in town recently, was a huge success.

The Council for the Arts of Herndon (CAH) and The Music Loft collected 23 instruments for Herndon Area schools. The drive kicked off April 1st and concluded at the end of the month.

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Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern was the host to a great “Play it Forward” fundraising event. Signe Friedrichs, Executive Director for CAH, was on hand to support the event as well as Board President Mike O’Reilly, and Board members Grace Han Wolf, Elysa Birman and Laura Readyoff.

Raffle tickets were sold by the wingspan for the event. Jerry Irwin, professional musician, donated a handcrafted wooden electric guitar to be raffled off for the event.

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The Music Loft staff was on hand to guest bartend and to lend their support for the Play it Forward program. Local attendees said they were overwhelmed by how much the Music Loft and the Council for the Arts of Herndon care about children and music in the community. They said they had never seen that level of commitment anywhere else.

Local businesses supported Council efforts and got involved by donating prizes for the raffles. The Great Harvest Bread Company, Friendly Computers, EmbroidMe, Mary Kay, Jimmy’s, The Music Loft, Paisano’s Pizza, and Potbelly were among the generous contributors. A total of $500 was raised for the program, in addition to the instruments.

The evening was capped off by one of Herndon’s own local bands, The Franklin Project, which rocked the house with the classics like “R-O-C-K in the USA” and “Sweet Home Alabama”.

One heartwarming donation was a concertina trumpet from the mid-1900s that was mailed to The Music Loft. The trumpet was donated by Lucille from North Carolina, who wrote that her father worked on a farm in Michigan, and had played trumpet in his marching band when he was young.

The donor wrote, “I feel confident that my father would be pleased that this instrument is being given to the Play it Forward program so that someone who might not otherwise have an instrument to play will now have one.”

The program concluded at the Herndon High School Pyramid concert on April 24th. The pyramid concert showcased the Herndon elementary schools’ area bands, the Herndon Middle school band and the Herndon High School band. The concert was a spectacular event. All of the bands wowed the audience with their performances. At the Pyramid Concert, Herndon Elementary School Principal Ann Gwynn was on hand to donate one of her own flutes for the Play it Forward program. The night concluded on a high note will all of the students performing “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

The Council for the Arts of Herndon and The Music Loft thank all of you for “playing it forward” for our future musicians. 

- Laura Readyoff

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