Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 11, 2009
Children’s Advocacy Center to bring Vince Gill to Tivoli Theater
David Laprad
The Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County will present its eighth annual “A Song for the Children” benefit concert on Sept. 28, 2009, at the Tivoli Theater. This year’s entertainment will feature Grammy Award-winning country vocalist, Vince Gill.
Tickets priced at $30 and $35 are available now through the Memorial Auditorium box office or by calling 642-TIXS. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. and the concert will begin at 8:00 p.m.
Gill is widely known as The Ambassador of Country Music, as evidenced by his 20 Grammy Awards, 18 CMA honors (including Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year four times) and over 26 million in album sales. Songs such as “When I Call Your Name,” “Never Knew Lonely,” “Look At Us,” “I Still Believe In You,” “One More Last Chance” and “Whenever You Come Around” have topped the charts even as he has been honored with several career achievement awards.
“He puts on a really good show,” says Kristin Ownby, education and administration manager of the center. “It’s usually just him and a guitar, although he has brought a keyboardist with him in the past.
“It’s meant to be more intimate than a show with fancy lights and a loud band. He tells a lot of stories between his songs, some of them personal, some of them funny.”
To date, Gill has earned more CMA trophies than any other country artist, hosted the annual CMA Awards for 12 consecutive years (ending his run in 2003) and currently serves as president of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Gill was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, Nashville Songwriters Association International named him their Songwriter and Artist of the Decade. And Gill was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
“His prodigious talent, legendary composition and quick wit have made him the face that country music likes to show the world,” the Children’s Advocacy Center says in a press release announcing the benefit concert. “But to those who know him best, he’s just a nice, regular guy who’s always up for a good laugh or another round of golf.”
“People tell us they love his stories and looking forward to hearing what he’s going to say about his childhood or his dad,” Ownby says.
The proceeds will benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County. Established in 1991 as a private, non-profit agency, the center serves children who are victims of sexual and severe physical abuse. The organization provides evaluation and treatment for abused children and non-offending family members by supplying forensic interviews, medical examinations, counseling, prevention education and coordination of the various public agencies involved with a child’s case (usually the Department of Children’s Services and law enforcement).
“Vince donates his time, which means we can use more of the proceeds to serve alleged victims,” says Ownby.
Last fiscal year, the center served more than 400 children and made abuse prevention presentations to more than 11,000 individuals.
“We get a lot of questions about how we can do this day after day,” Shelley McGraw, executive director of the center, says. “Once they come to us, the abuse has already happened, so we’re a part of the recovery process.”
“We’re a child friendly place, so although they’ve been through some hard things, we’re set up to help them recover,” says Ownby. “And we provide our services at no cost because we don’t want the family to incur any financial hardship because of what it went through. That’s why fundraisers like this and donations are important.”
“For someone who attends our benefit, it’s one ticket and one evening out, but when that many people come together and buy tickets, they’re helping a lot of kids,” McGraw says. “So come to the show, have fun and do something worthwhile at the same time.”
The platinum sponsors of this year’s benefit concert include Cross Chiropractic, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, 107.9 The Duke Radio and Republic Parking Systems, whose donations will allow 100 percent of the VIP tickets to directly benefit child victims of sexual and severe physical abuse. (As of the date of the interview for this article, the center was down to just a few VIP tickets. Plenty of general admission tickets remained available, however.) Gold sponsors consist of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Dale L. Buchanan & Associates, Diversified Printing, JDH Company, Komatsu America, NewsChannel 9, Pepsi Bottling Company, Thompson Engineering, Unum and Walden Security.
For more information about Children’s Advocacy Center of Hamilton County, visit www.cachc.org.
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