PORT TOWNSEND — For the past year, he has been in almost constant pain in his back, arms and legs, the result of a smashed disc he suffered 20 years ago when a race horse fell on his neck.
Before that, he was in and out of the hospital with heart problems, and now is facing stomach surgery.
But for Andy Mackie, the show must go on.
“It’s something that families can do together,” Mackie said.
“Every year, we get more and more kids involved.”
For the fifth year, Mackie is producing the Family Musical Festival, a down-home hoe-down that takes place at Memorial Field this weekend.
A benefit for Habitat for Humanity and Mackie’s music foundation, the festival is part of a one-man crusade to get children involved in making music.
“During this festival, they can actually build an instrument and take it home,” Mackie said.
“We’ll teach them how to use it.”
The Andy Mackie Family Musical Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Memorial Field in downtown Port Townsend.
Admission by donation. Proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity and the Andy Mackie Music Foundation, which offers local music scholarships for high school graduates and free lessons and instrument-making workshops for students in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties.
The festival is sponsored by John L. Scott Real Estate and Jefferson County Parks and Recreation. For more information, call Mackie at 360-765-6494.
