ON MARCH 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake shook the northeast coast of Japan, generating a 30-foot tsunami that swept away homes, schools and businesses.
On April 22, middle school students from Port Townsend and Chimacum joined forces to rock the school to help students on the other side of the ocean.
“It was the kids’ idea to get together and have a fundraiser for Japanese schools,” said Mark Decker, principal of Blue Heron School.
Students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Blue Heron and Chimacum Middle School usually do something together every year, according to Tom Kent, ASB adviser and dean of students, but the last dance was three or four years ago.
To plan last Friday’s benefit, student body representatives from both schools got together and reviewed a demo by Nowhere to Run, an alternative-rock band from Chimacum.
Augmented by singer Michael McDonald, 18, the band — CHS seniors Jarrett Hansen on guitar and Anker Peet on bass and sophomore Max Peet on drums — performed a riveting one-plus-hour set of 13 songs.
“They are mostly original compositions and some covers,” said Quinn L’Heureux, 16, a CHS student who is the band’s manager.
It was Addi Richert, Blue Heron eighth-grade class president, who originally came up with the idea of making the benefit relief effort, Kent said. Chimacum Middle School ASB officers Quintin Butler, Hollie Maples, Celeena Lechtenberg and Jonna O’Keefe picked up the idea and ran with it, said Kris Butler, ASB adviser.
“It all came together in about a week,” Kent said.
In addition to listening or dancing to live music, students had the option of going into the gym to play pickup basketball or other games.
Whitney Meissner, Chimacum Middle and High School principal, said she liked the option of having a place where students could talk and get to know one another. Meissner said the rivalry between the two schools is more pronounced at the high school level.
“And then, it is confined to the athletic field,” she said.
Collecting tickets
On Friday, two school buses delivered Chimacum students to the Blue Heron campus for the after-school event. Blue Heron ASB members Phoebe Arthul, Jenna Carson, Noah Coltani, Sam Jasper, Cassie Olin and Tate Munnich were stationed at the door to collect tickets.
According to Meissner, 103 Chimacum students had purchased pre-paid tickets to the benefit at $5 a piece.
Kent said Blue Heron had sold 115 tickets by lunchtime the day of the benefit.
“We’re easily over $1,000,” Kent said. “I feel good about that.”
Among those in line to buy tickets were ICE students Camilla Costa, Emily Ellis, Emma Gelino and Odette Jennings. The price include free snacks offered by Blue Heron volunteer/mom Elizabeth Fukano.
Butler and Chimacum School volunteer/mom Juanita Maples sold juice, pop and candy, with proceeds going to the fundraiser. Julia Cochran researched conduits for the money raised, Kent said, and chose Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund.
The band was part of the draw for Francois Ballou, McKinley Pruitt, Jake Brady, Ty Lepper and Jonathan Altimose, Blue Heron eighth graders who have their own band.
“It’s to help Japan and hear some music,” Altimose said.
After the band’s set, Richert took over as DJ, choosing songs from computer downloads. The Blue Heron ASB students deejay their own dances, Kent said. With the money saved, they bought speakers and a light set that casts multicolored orbs around the darkened room.
The final tally: 106 students from Chimacum and 136 students from Port Townsend attended the dance, raising a total of $1,216 for disaster relief, Kent said.
Benefit for orphanage
That same evening, Nowhere to Run returned to Blue Heron to play another benefit. Organized by Port Townsend High School senior Bridgette Spegal as her senior project, it was a concert to raise money for the Layla House, an orphanage in Ethiopia.
Spegal, 18, said she chose Layla House because several families in Jefferson County have adopted children there. They include a family at her church in Chimacum who adopted twins, a boy and a girl, whom Spegal is good friends with.
Spegal originally booked three bands to play the concert, she said, but Nowhere to Run was the only one who kept the commitment.
Earlier at the middle school dance, Butler said the band honed their musical talents as members of the Chimacum Jazz Band, though Hansen’s ability to play the electric guitar while holding it behind his back was obviously developed for the rock genre.
“They played for an hour and a half and did a wonderful job,” Spegal said of the band.
Spegal plans to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho in Boise, where she will major in art. What she learned from her senior project?
“I definitely should have started planning earlier and chosen a place to host the event,” she said.
Spegal said donations are still coming in, but so far, the benefit has raised $160.
Hansen, of Nowhere to Run, said the band has played at the Upstage, the Boiler Room and the Jefferson County Fair and will be at the fair again. The band also has a CD out. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/nowheretorun.
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Jennifer Jackson writes about Port Townsend and Jefferson County every Wednesday. To contact her with items for this column, phone 360-379-5688 or email jjackson@olypen.com.
