River Street Promotions' third annual Homestand concert, held in Ross Wells Ballpark, raised a total of $150,000 to be re-invested back into the community of Moose Jaw, with $20,000 going to maintain and beautify the ballpark, and a whopping $130,000 going toward youth mental wellness.
River Street Promotions (RSP) is a local non-profit that brings talented artists to Moose Jaw for entertainment and culture, but all profits from their Homestand concert series, as well as their smaller shows at the Mae Wilson, go to support youth mental wellness in southern Saskatchewan.
The RSP Fund is held in trust by Prairie South School Division (PSSD) and can also be accessed by Holy Trinity Catholic School Division (HTCSD).
"The full amount for Prairie South and Holy Trinity this year, as a result of Homestand '23, is $130,000. With the $20,000 donation to Ross Wells, that makes $150,000 being directed and gifted back to the community," said James Murdock, a founding member of RSP.
Homestand '23 was held on Sept. 9 and featured a screening of the annual Banjo Bowl, followed by performances from the Mike Plume Band, Lindi Ortega, Jordyn Pollard, and Corb Lund. Over 2,000 people attended, along with the many indispensable volunteers.
The two cheques were given to Charlie Meacher, caretaker of Ross Wells, and to Amanda Olson and Ryan Boughen from PSSD and Ward Strueby from HTCSD, during a presentation in the lobby of Temple Gardens Hotel and Spa on Oct. 25.
The first Homestand concert in 2021 raised $65,000, and Homestand '22 raised $100,000. Asked whether he sees a potential slowdown, Murdock said he doubted they would plateau anytime soon.
"There may come a point," he chuckled, "but the community just keeps requesting more and more with regards to Homestand, and Ross Wells is an unbelievable venue that I think has really captivated a lot of people now.
"The moment people walk in to Ross Wells for Homestand, and they see the layout, I mean, everything about it is top-notch, from the entertainers to the stage, the video presence with the jumbotrons and lighting, it's legit, you know? I really don't know how it won't keep growing, to be honest. There were a lot of fresh faces this past September, so we'll keep rolling."
"It's hectic having them there, it makes for a couple of interesting weeks of something different than baseball," Meacher said wryly. Meacher is an active part of Homestand who puts effort into helping things go smoothly, and he was thanked by all at the presentation for his volunteerism. "The money really helps to get projects moving at the park and get things done that would take years otherwise, so it's wonderful, and it's a great thing they're doing for the community."
"It's great that we'll be able to continue to enhance opportunities for our students," said Olson, superintendent of operations at PSSD. "We're excited to be able to do a second annual Mental Health Wellness Conference for our youth in grades 6 to 12, and they all come together from both school divisions, and we can put some tools in their toolboxes related to their mental wellness.
"We've also been promoting our grant matching program, and we've had multiple schools apply for that already for local level initiatives. Each of our schools has some autonomy for their needs, whether that's having a guest speaker or mental health wellness workshops, or some kind of learning fair. So, that's all well underway and we're excited to see how those events go."
Strueby is CEO and director of education at HTCSD. He said he and his staff are "blown away" by the donation, and incredibly excited for how it will benefit their students. He noted the grant matching program for events geared around mental wellness, the joint mental health wellness conference planned by PSSD and HTCSD, and another grant enabled by RSP that helps staff travel to the annual provincial symposium.
"That helps support our staff to attend the mental health and well-being symposium that's held each year in the province, to bring back ideas to Moose Jaw and surrounding communities on how to support the well-being of our students," Strueby said. "This year, we also had a cool idea in our division to purchase tickets to Homestand '23, and then we asked staff to put their names forward, and we had a draw for those tickets, so we're also giving back to the RSP fund, and our staff were happy to be able to go.
"We can't say enough about the work River Street Promotions has done," Strueby added. "We're looking forward to the fourth annual concert next year, we will be there in person, and it's going to be a great event."
The next RSP event is 'A Nashville Christmas' at the Mae Wilson Theatre on Dec. 9. The event features singer/songwriters Emily Shackelton, Jenn Bostic, Jonny Mo, Sarah Darling, and Lindsay Ell. Tickets are available through Sasktix.ca.
