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Rotary, Kiwanis stage third Ramona Music Fest

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To the general public, the Third Annual Ramona Music Fest that will take place Saturday afternoon under the oaks in Dos Picos Park is an opportunity to listen to family-oriented musical entertainment.

For Ramona’s Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, which have joined forces to put on the event, it provides public entertainment—and more.

The four-hour event featuring two stages as well as wandering musicians is officially a fundraiser for the two service organizations. The proceeds will be split equally.

The festival will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Dos Picos County Park is at 17953 Dos Picos Road.

General admission is $20, with children from 7 through 16 years old admitted for $10, and children 6 and younger admitted free. Tickets are available from club members and they also will be available at the park.

In addition to music, the event will feature opportunity drawings, a reverse drawing where the holder of the last ticket left receives a Panasonic 50-inch HD television, an auction, children’s activities, food, and two wine and beer gardens.

Proceeds will be used for such causes as the July 4 fireworks, high school scholarships and other school and youth programs, and contributions to organizations such as the senior center, library and adult day health care center.

The musical acts and other events of the day are intended to bridge a generation gap.

“I see it helping the community getting closer,” said organizer Stephen Brindley with Ramona Rotary..

The entertainment includes alternative country singer Aja Alycean.

“Aja is one of the up-and-coming pop singers,” Brindley said.

Reggae/ska band The Amalgamated may also appeal to a younger crowd.

The folk/Americana musicians scheduled to appear are Rob Lewallen, Madi McMiff, Emily Rajcic, Alex Thomure and Phillip Twitchell. The entertainment also includes folk rock band Cactus Twang & Whyte, rockabilly/50s music by The Rumblers, acoustic songwriter Ted Lennon, the Ramona Town Hall Brass Band, and the Ramona High School Royal Alliance Jazz Band.

One drawing ticket purchaser will be able to make his or her own music after the Music Fest, as a $500 drum set is one of the prizes.

Jon Hasz of Ramona Music Center worked with Rotary and Kiwanis on appealing to a younger demographic. In addition to enticing younger patrons to spend money at the Ramona Music Fest, the presence of bands that appeal to young adults will also expose those young adults to the service clubs, whose members’ average age, according to a national survey, is in the mid-40s.

“That’s a main goal,” Brindley said. “These (existing members) are folks who are retiring or passing away or leaving Ramona.”

In addition to music-oriented citizens from within and outside Ramona, the Ramona Music Fest is expected to bring Rotarians and Kiwanians from other communities into town.

“Everything (referring to the charity distribution) stays locally, but we’re letting the district know,” Brindley said.

Brindley leads the Rotary effort as well as the overall project while Bob Hailey handles the Kiwanis leadership. Brindley will be the Ramona Rotary Club president for the 2010-11 Rotary year, which begins in July, and he recently attended a president-elect training session which emphasized joint projects involving other service clubs. “They kind of used the Music Fest as an example,” Brindley said.

“We’re going to have fun,” Brindley said. “We’re going to raise some money and have some good music and help promote Ramona as a music town.”

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