Radio station, singer step in to help family
Friday, January 12, 2007 10:56 AM PST
Julie Engel
Argus Observer
Fruitland
Many in this area know of Kevin Sharp, a local singer who lived in Weiser and successfully battled cancer to become a country music star.
Many also know of Nick Fenstemacher, a Fruitland High School student who is battling Hodgkin’s Disease and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Fenstemacher is the only known person in the world to have both cancers at once.
A desire to help the Fenstemacher family pushed Idaho Commerce and Labor Manager Jim Smith and KSRV Station Manager Dale Jeffries to work together. Jeffries said Smith had connections with Sharp’s personal manager, and after a conference call, “An Evening with Kevin Sharp” was born.
“It’s an evening with Kevin Sharp, but it’s also an evening for the Fenstemacher family to show them they are in our thoughts and prayers, that they’re not in this battle alone,” Jeffries said. “That’s what local radio is all about.”
The evening includes a dinner and concert and begins at 6 p.m. Jan. 20. Dinner is at 6 p.m. and the concert kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Olde School Community Center in Fruitland.
The catering is being donated by Sansei owner Margie Yasuda, Jeffries said, and the community center was donated by Connie Baines.
Ticket buyers have a few options to consider. A dinner and concert ticket is $50 and includes front section seating. Concert-only tickets are $25 for general admission and $15 for the balcony. Tickets are available at KSRV radio station in Ontario and Going Postal in Fruitland.
There have been 370 tickets printed, Jeffries said, which alone could raise $12,000 for the Fenstemacher family.
There will also be a raffle for prizes donated by sponsors and a donation jar at the event, Jeffries said.
Sponsorships are also still available, Jeffries said. Included in the sponsorship package are 25 30-second commercials running from Monday to Jan. 19, multiple 15-second DJ Liners, four dinner and concert tickets and one banner displayed at the concert. Sponsors are required to donate $100 worth of merchandise for the raffle as well. The sponsorship costs $500 plus the donated merchandise.
The sponsorships go to cover the costs of the show, Jeffries said, and any additional funds above those costs will be donated to the family as well. For more information about sponsorships call KSRV at (541) 889-8651.
“It’s something a local radio station can do to fill a need of the area,” Jeffries said. “We are a medium that broadcasts to the masses. Every day there’s people in need and some are greater than others.”
Nick Fenstemacher’s mother, Tamara Fenstemacher, said the community support her family has received is overwhelming and her son is excited about the event. She said her son is recovering from his last dose of chemotherapy, which means, hopefully, next week he will be feeling good enough to visit with Sharp when he comes to town.
“There’s just been so many awesome people who have come out and helped,” she said. “I can’t even tell you what it means.”
Even though the Fenstemachers have medical insurance, Fenstemacher said the new year brings deductibles. Also, she said driving back and forth to Boise and eating while there have added extra expenses on top of medical payments. Fenstemacher said her son’s Hodgkin’s is in remission, but doctors are not sure how to treat the Non-Hodgkin’s since it has occurred at the same time. Doctors have used a combination of chemo in six different treatments, Fenstemacher said, and doctors are cautiously optimistic about its results.
“I’m really excited about it (the concert), and I know Nick is excited — it’s good to have things to look forward to,” she said.
Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:
Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.
'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .
I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.
Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!
If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:
'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan
I have another quote that I would like to add
'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan
One last thought for the day:
In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’
I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.
Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"