For the eighth year, the organizers of Treystock are “playing it forward.”
The annual benefit music concert raises money for local charities; collects nonperishable food items for the Community Food Warehouse (organizers hope to double the 250 pounds collected last year); gives “kid bands” a chance to find an audience; and offers an excuse to rock ‘n’ roll all night.
This year’s show will be held April 21 in Tiffany’s Banquet Center, 601 Bedford Road, Brookfield. Doors open at 5 p.m., the music starts at 6 p.m. and things wrap up … well, you know, it is a rock concert.
The show honors Trey Kent Filer, whose battle with cancer led to Treystock 1. Adrienne Scarvel came up with the idea to help Filer pay his medical bills.
Filer later obtained medical insurance, but wanted the show to continue.
“Once he got better, he helped run it for a couple of years,” said organizer Valorie Dunch of Hermitage. “He enjoyed doing it.”
The money raised was channeled to local charities.
“It was kind of a mission for him,” said Dunch’s husband, Steve.
Dunch, a local musician, said the guitar-playing Filer was like a big brother to him when he started playing music.
“One of the kindest people I knew, especially as far as musicians went,” Steve Dunch said of Filer. “No ego, no attitude, and always had a smile on his face.”
Filer died in 2015 but had secured promises from his mom, Carol Wiercinski, and Steve Dunch that Treystock would keep going.
Admission is $10 – paid at the door – and money also is raised through a Chinese auction and T-shirt sales. Tiffany’s sells food and alcohol.
“It’s a family-friendly event,” said Wiercinski, of Hermitage. “We encourage people to bring their kids.”
Those kids get to see bands made up of their peers.
“We have five bands this year and they are from, like, 5 to 15,” Wiercinski said: Night Owls, Chicken Feet, Code 51, Nevermind the Damage and Spotless.
The adult bands are Five Deep, which features original Treystock organizers Steve Dunch and Dave Chambers; Ten Years Gone; Snarfunkle; All-In; and the Side Effects.
The Chinese auction is a “big draw,” Wiercinski said, last year attracting 189 items. Items that often get attention include guitars, concert tickets and a Jimmy Smith painting of a musical figure. This year, Smith is painting Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana. Other notable offerings include a wine basket, a leg lamp like that seen in “A Christmas Story” and a guitar made out of candy bars.
Wiercinski said a woman last year paid $225 in an attempt to score tickets to a Lady Gaga concert, which was more than she would have had to pay to buy a ticket through the normal channels.
“She didn’t win,” Wiercinski said.
The local charities that will win include the Backpack Programs in Brookfield, the Shenango Valley and Hermitage; Shenango Area Youth Chorus; Shoe Our Children; and Beds for Little Heads. The Treystock Fund, whose money is administered by the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, also gives scholarships to music students.
Vocal impressionist Randy Velez – he bills himself as the Rich Little of music – will emcee the event.
Treystock helps Wiercinski keep her mind off her son’s loss, but also reminds her how special he was.
“These days, when I run into friends of his, no one has a nasty thing to say about him,” she said. “They all have nice things to say.”
Treystock often brings in Filer’s friends from out of town, and Wiercinski said she enjoys watching them “having such a wonderful time.”
“Even though Trey is missing from that stage, it fills me with joy to see them up there having a good time,” she said.
Information: Treystock.org, or the Treystock Facebook page.