No Christmas Concert This Year By Don Waldrop

My friends and acquaintances here have been inquiring about when the annual Lake Helen Christmas Concert will be. My answers have sadly been, there won�t be one.

The concerts, a gift of love from me to the town I love, have been going on every year since Lin and I moved to Lake Helen.

As the attendees over the years know, these concerts were highly professional in quality and performed by as many as 10 musicians. They were also supported by others who gave their time as announcers, ushers, go-fers and those who brought food and drink.

But what most people did not know was that, although I, personally, always give my time and talents to the city, the other musicians had to be paid. There are not enough musicians with the capabilities required living in Lake Helen, so they are brought in. Many of my first-choice players make their livings as musicians.

Most people also did not know that we had a benefactor who almost single-handedly paid for the concerts...until last year, when the economic climate changed so drastically and he could no longer donate the funds.

Last year, the City Commission voted to fund about half the costs of the concert, thankfully, and we were able to continue on. Others, including some of the candidates running for office, gave substantial donations and made the concert actually possible.

This year, there was no funding. I am a musician, not a fund-raiser. That is what I have done all my life and I cannot apologize for not going out and raising the money. But what I hope can happen in the future is this.

The Lake Helen City Commission should make a permanent budget item, funding a large percentage of the costs of presenting the concert. In addition, a local Arts Committee could be formed which would take on the responsibility of raising the remaining money needed to present the Christmas concert with any surplus to be directly used for performing arts events in Lake Helen. We could also consider charging for the concerts, an idea which I have been totally against in the past.

So, I remain steadfastly committed to producing a Christmas Concert of the highest standards for Lake Helen annually but the citizens of Lake Helen have to commit to helping support it.