A country music concert called "Flood Aid" is planned for Saturday in the western Iowa town of Missouri Valley to help some of the victims of last month’s flooding recover. A levee break in early May flooded more than 90 homes in the Harrison County town.
Bob Everhart, president of the Anita-based National Traditional Country Music Association, is organizing the seven-hour show. Everhart says the concert "covers a huge gamut of music and performers" and will be held in old middle school gym in Missouri Valley. The event is called "Flood Aid, Roots Music – All the way to Elvis." The concert runs from 2 to 9 P.M. Saturday. Everhart says he came up with the idea after one of his friends in the music business sustained un-reimbursed losses during the May fifth flood, and now the family has additional burdens to bear.
He says a cafe owned by the Pearce family sustained damage in the flood and no sooner had that occurred than Mrs. Pearce was hospitalized with a brain tumor. Everhart says that family "and everyone else who needs help" in Missouri Valley will benefit from the show. He runs down the roster of some of the day’s performers:
The musicians include: Ervin Pickhinke "The Singing Farmer," old-style country by Marge Lund of Anita, harmonica music by former Missouri Valley Mayor Ron Reiff, Kentucky guitarist Jimmy Pearce, and the "Silver Creek Cloggers" from Council Bluffs. Some 77 families were forced out of their homes during the May fifth-through-seventh floods. About a dozen have been able to return to houses that were inundated with several feet of muddy, stinky water.
To date, FEMA has approved more than $630,00 in grants for Harrison County, and the U.S. Small Business Administration has offered assistance totaling three-point-nine-million for flood damage in southwest Iowa.
There is no charge to attend, but Everhart says they’ll "pass a hat" during the show and will be happy to take whatever you can afford to give to help out the residents of Missouri Valley. For more information, call (712) 642-2553.