LEWISTON — Organizers of a new concert fundraiser Thursday hope to raise thousands of dollars for Honor Flight, which helps area veterans visit their monuments in Washington for free.
The concert, scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. at the Franco Center in Lewiston, will feature local musicians, patriotic observances and an appearance by Honor Flight founder Earl Morse.
The cost is $20 per person.
“I heard Earl speak a couple of months ago, and it just melted my heart,” musician Laurie Sidelinger said. “I knew I needed to do something.”
So, she began calling people.
The result is Thursday’s concert. The event will be hosted by Sidelinger and Chip Morrison, the executive director of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce.
Performers will include Dan Doucette, Charlene LeClair, Roger Paradis, Lina Hussey, Marge Carter, Julie Goff, Roxanne Royer and Sue Dube.
Of each $20 ticket sold, $17 will go to Honor Flight.
Morse co-founded the organization about nine years ago in Springfield, Ohio, where he worked as a physician’s assistant in a Veterans Affairs clinic. He saw too many veterans, particularly from World War II, who were unable to get to their memorials. Some needed physical help that was unavailable. Some couldn’t afford the trip, Morse said in a May interview with the Sun Journal.
Morse, a retired Air Force captain and private pilot, began organizing trips. The organization grew to 148 hubs located across the country. And when he moved to Vinalhaven last year, he began working on establishing a hub here in Maine.
Rounding up help for the benefit concert has been easy, Sidelinger said. Again and again, people donated services, items or their voices to the concert.
“All I had to say was, ‘It’s for the veterans,’” Sidelinger said. “These people will sing their hearts out. Knowing you’re doing it to support the veterans is just amazing.”
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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