Sometimes a good party is more than needed, a fact that Graham Hill Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association knows well. On April 21 the PTA raised the roof and a bunch of money for their kids with a Pearl Django concert at the Mount Baker Community Center.
According to PTA member Betina Simmons Blaine, her organization was hoping to raise $4,000 to go toward the school.
"We have so many needs," Simmons Blaine asserted before rattling off a few. "The teachers don't have school supply budgets, and we have a scholarship program to enable low income kids to attend."
While her school's financial crisis is, unfortunately, not a big surprise, how they went about meeting it this spring is. Lining up one of the country's most celebrated gypsy jazz acts is no small feat, but Simmons Blaine noted that her PTA was particularly well connected.
"Our music teacher, Sherry Adams, is married to one of the band members [bass player Rick Leppanen]."
For more than 11 years Pearl Django has busied itself with spreading their "hot club" style jazz across the country and overseas. Appealing to a wide range of musical tastes, the band attracts fans of the legendary Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, guitar enthusiasts and players and lovers of the new swing music.
The group's inception was as a trio in Tacoma in 1994. Their intent was, and still is, to incorporate the music of Reinhardt and Grappelli with American swing music. They quickly expanded to a quintet, adding a violinist and a third guitarist, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed by the national media. An interview on National Public Radio's All Things Considered in 2001 introduced the group to listeners across the nation.
Currently Pearl Django is working as a quartet, as they did during the April 21 school benefit, with the occasional guest artist taking the stage with them. Each member of the group contributes to the song writing duties, and the result has been a prolific output with eight CDs to date, an expansive live repertoire and a steady touring schedule.
"It's something kind of new and different for the school," said Simmons Blaine about putting on the show. "I'm really proud we've pulled it together. We have a great parent group with really high involvement that pulled together to make it happen."
Along with the world-class jazz music, the 21-and-over fundraiser also featured beer, wine, cheese and bread. The $25 ticket purchased a complimentary drink, and a cash raffle was held during the evening to help bolster the fundraising effort.
According to Simmons Blaine's fellow PTA member Andrea Patok, the Graham Hill parents sold just under 200 tickets, near the hall's 250 capacity limit.
"It was a really big stretch for us because it was the first fundraiser for us where we really had to spend money," Patok noted. "We were all a little nervous about it."
In addition to a discounted fee the PTA paid Pearl Django, the parent group also had to pay another cut rate fee to the community center as well as funnel money toward discounted wine. The beer was a donation.
Typically, Patok said that the PTA relies on bake sale and magazine subscription fundraisers to garner their money for the organization's general fund. While she said they wouldn't stop doing such traditional fundraising in favor more eye-catching ideas such as the concert, Patok asserted the event is a repeat.
"It's about what we would make on a catalog sale [campaign], and everybody who went felt like it was a lot of fun," Patok said. "It was relatively painless."
In all, the ticket sales and cash drawing (half was for the school group, but the two winners donated most of the money back to the PTA), the event brought in $4,500.
"Schools like TOPS or McGilvra in Madison Park can raise $65,000 at an auction because it's a choice school with a wealthy parent population," noted Patok. "Over 50 percent of our kids are on free and reduced lunch. So, for us to bring in $4,500 is a big deal."
Erik Hansen may be reached through editor@sdistrictjournal.com.
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