How It All Began...
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2017 Event Info:
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In November of 2006 Jennifer and I, along with Mike and Terry Pfeffer decided to go to the Pine Island Blues festival at the KOA camp ground. We heard about a great blues-man named Hamilton Loomis who would be headlining the show. It turned out that the weather got very cold that day. We were not prepared for the cold because we had planned on going to the show for a while then slipping out for the Ohio State verses Michigan football game in the afternoon grab some warm clothes and come back to the show.
The show was so great that we never did leave for the game. As the weather turned cold we grabbed what we could to keep warm out of our van. Mike was sitting in a chair covered with U-Haul packing blankets with only his face sticking out of the pile while Jennifer, Terry and I were dancing or jumping around to keep warm. Most of the people had left the show because of the cold by the time Hamilton came out on stage, but not us of course! As Hamilton played I looked at Mikes face sticking out of the blankets and said “hey why aren’t we doing one of these” and Mike’s finger came out from inside the blankets and he shook it at me and said “don’t threaten me or we will do it” so I threatened him and our very first Bonita Blues Festival was April 7th 2007!!! Mike and Terry were very instrumental in getting the Festival off the ground. They were in contact with an attorney right away and secured us our 501(c) 3 status by our second year called the Bonita Blues Charitable Foundation and the festival has grown to what it is today. To date, we have given away $128,000.00 to local charities. With the way the festival has grown over the years, the great support we receive from the City of Bonita Springs, our regular sponsors and the friends we have made through the years with our volunteers and attendees, we hope the Festival will continue to grow. Sincerely, Kevin Barry President, Bonita Blues Charitable Foundation |
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