Friday 12/05/08 was the 6th annual Nada Silent Night at the historic Hoyt Sherman Place Theatre in Des Moines, Iowa. This was an amazing event....thank you EVERYONE for coming, bringing toys, volunteering, donating (time, money, silent auction items)...everything! The show benefited the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots (wow did they get a lot of toys!), along the silent auction proceeds benefiting Des Moines' Habitat for Humanity. I have been working on NSN plans for a while now, and couldn't be happier with the results. We had SUCH an incredible team working on this year's event...I am very lucky to have such talented friends!
Our theme this year was "Dreaming of a 'Green' Christmas". We really tried to cut down on waste, and recycle as much as possible. Some of our "green" efforts include: Atomic Garage donated jackets for the band to wear, the set design was created using recycled cardboard, rubber stamps were used to stamp hands instead of plastic wristbands, recycled paper was used for posters and postcards (along with printing lower quantities), all of this along with using a bike to power the LED green Christmas lights on the front of the stage!! It was a big hit!
Another highlight of the night was Jason's son Mitchell telling everyone the meaning of Christmas (from Charlie Brown), and then introducing...THE NADAS!!! He did a great job. One of the best surprises this year was the string section revealed as a screen was lifted during a song. At first we weren't sure how it would all come together (with the screen getting lifted), but the moment was stunning. Such a great feeling to see it all happen from the beginning of planning to it all working out so nicely.
If you can't tell, I'm still very excited about this year's Nada Silent Night. We had great sponsors. The main sponsors were Toys for Tots, Iowa Health, Scheels, John Deere, Greater Des Moines Partnership, Younkers, Authentic Records, Capital 106.3, The Des Moines Register/Datebook, and KCCI. The silent auction raised around $4,000 for Habitat for Humanity (so many awesome items were donated!!).
Another huge hit of the night was the opening band...THE DAMNWELLS! We were so excited they joined for the show. The band was originally from Brooklyn, NY...but as Alex said on Friday night...they are The Damnwells, from IOWA! The crowd loved that! Alex and his wife (Angela) currently live in Iowa City...so we will definitely claim the band as Iowa-based for now! They put on an amazing show and were very glad to be at Hoyt on Friday night. Thank all of you for giving them such a warm welcome.
Truly, I can't say enough about Nada Silent Night. I can share some photos with all of you...so many taken, I had a hard time cutting it down. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!! Merry Christmas!
The Nadas Rehearsing
The Damnwells Rehearsing
Luke and Elisabeth
Steve & Cynthia from KCCI and Frank & Deeya from Capital 106.3
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6 comments:
I believe I shed a tear looking at these photos. Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that Ted playing bass for the Damnwells?????
Love the photos, you do an awesome job...NSN was amazing, thanks to all that helped with this wonderful event, we enjoyed every minute, looking foward to NSN VII
Thank you both for checking out my photos!
Chip, you are correct...that is Ted!! He is hilarious. The whole band was so much fun to have with us for NSN. Hopefully the Nadas will be able to play with them again sometime soon. And I'm not usually a fan of making people cry, but your tear shed was a great compliment...THANKS!
Deb, thanks so much for the kind words. It was great to have you there...glad you enjoyed it all! We are also looking forward to NSN VII! :)
Thanks again!
mandy
I love Ted (like a brother, of course). I was very sad to learn that he wasn't going to be a part of the Damnwells going forward (heard this sometime early this year) so I was shocked to see him in the photos - shocked and excited thus leading to the tear shedding ;)
Now if only I can figure out a way to get them to play a show in Ohio. Not that I'm complaining - I think I've seen them something like 13 times but to me - if I have the opportunity again - it won't be the same if Ted isn't part of the band.
Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Great pictures, Mandy. :-)
Wish I lived closer to Iowa. . .
sigh...
great pics, as always.
miss you!
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