Lynda Sellars and Connie Kyser show off the Toyota Carolla up for raffle at the annual Fall Festival.

Join us at Woodmen Hall Oct. 10 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for an all-ages fall festival and at 2:30 p.m. for the season’s first performance of the national award winning Garfield Jazz Ensemble. Both of these events are benefits for Woodmen Hall. The Garfield band is donating all proceeds above travel expenses to the renovation of the stage. The proceeds from the festival go to ongoing restoration work on the Hall.

The Lopez School Music Advocacy Foundation and The Friends of Woodmen Hall are working together to present these two events. The festival is free to all, the Jazz concert tickets are for sale for a suggested minimum donation of $15.00. Tickets are available at the door or for reservations call 468-2240 or cjacobsen@rockisland.com or Mary at the Senior Center 468-2421. It is recommended that you reserve your seats now.

The festival offers vendors, lunch and snacks, activities and fun for all ages. There are games and crafts for the young ones. The rest of you should remember the chicken drop and the cakewalk! Don’t miss the photos and facepainting. This year there are also raffle tickets being sold for a donated 1990 Toyota Corolla.

The Garfield Jazz Ensemble is a 30 member jazz band comprised of students from a variety of cultural and economic backgrounds. It has won every major competition on the west coast, and has performed internationally. The band won first place in 2009 in the Essentially Ellington National Jazz Band Competition.

Friends of Woodmen Hall board members Connie Kyser and Lynda Sellars were able to provide news about Woodmen Hall.

“We are thrilled to have the building open…it has already seen several wonderful community events and more are scheduled,” Kyser commented. This year there has been an auction, the open house, and a garage sale. There have been two concerts sponsored by Home on the Grange, and a birthday party. Sellars noted that the senior lunches are overflow events. Meeting regularly at the Hall are the Senior Services Advisory Counsel, the Enchanted Quilters, the Garden Club, the Exercise group, The Friends of Woodmen Hall, and the Birthday Club. For information on renting the Hall contact Mary at 468-2421.

When asked why The Friends are still raising money when the Hall is open and looks so elegant, Kyser replied, “It would be nice if The Friends fundraising days were over, but that’s just not the case. There are still some repair issues that need to be dealt with, insulation needs to be installed, the stage has to be upgraded, and there is still the upstairs that has so much potential.”

If you ask any of the old timers they will tell you about the wonderful events that happened upstairs and how much they want it to be restored. To bring this space built in 1898 up to 2009 code will be a challenge both financially and in terms of people power. Sellars called out to those who love the Hall to say that The Friends need your support financially, as workers at events, and as committee members in order to make this happen. The Friends are thinking big: imagine in the future walking into a small elevator and being taken up to a restored second floor. We can do it with your help. If you have any questions call Sellars at 468-2287 or Kyser at 468-3275.