Middletown benefit concert nets $150,000 for Valley fire victims

The marathon benefit concert “Putting Out the Fire,” staged in mid-?November at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts to aid victims of the Valley fire in Lake County, raised more than $150,000, organizers announced.

More than 1,400 supporters bought tickets for the six-hour event on Nov. 15, which included both live and silent auctions, said Michael O’Shea, president of Amaturo Sonoma Media Group, one of the event’s sponsors.

“It was a magical day,” he said. “We’re very pleased.”

Originally planned by Ron and Carolyn Kirk of Bay Productions as an outdoor country music concert at Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center in Rohnert Park to benefit the Bodega Bay Fire District, the event took on a new purpose and new sponsors in the wake of the Valley fire.

In September, the 76,067-acre fire, one of the most destructive in state history, destroyed more than 1,300 homes and killed four people before it was brought under control in a massive firefighting effort.

With Amaturo Sonoma Media Group, which owns five local radio stations, and Wells Fargo ?Center for the Arts joining the effort, “Putting Out the Fire: A Thanksgiving for Middletown” became a major fundraising event with a larger venue at Wells Fargo Center.

Proceeds from the sale of tickets, auction items, food, drink and memorabilia, as well as donations - including $100,000 from the Lytton Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians - totaled $255,928, minus production costs of just over $100,000.

The net amount going to United Way of Wine Country’s Valley Fire Fund and Bodega Bay Community Emergency Response Team is $155,374.

Almost half of the expense was for artists already under contract when the producers of the two proposed concerts decided to merge their efforts, said Jim Murphy, vice president for programming and operations for Amaturo Sonoma Media Group.

“We found that two groups had scheduled a somewhat similar event for the same date, and were locked in with contracts,” O’Shea explained, which raised concern about competing events diminishing the fundraising effort.

“We decided the best thing to do is join forces,” O’Shea added. “We did inherit some contracts that were in force and did carry expense with them, which might have impacted the net return, but when we considered all other factors, we thought that was the best thing to do.”

Country acts Diamond Rio, Joe Diffie and McKenna Faith were already under contract when the focus and size of the original fundraiser was changed to help Valley fire victims, Murphy said.

Other expenses included payroll for event staff, hotel rooms for musicians and small stipends for backup musicians, Murphy explained.

Robby Krieger of the Doors, Danny Seraphine of the band Chicago, “Spirit in the Sky” singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, Imperial Messenger Service, country singer-songwriters Craig Morgan and Jon Pardi, TV celebrities Guy Fieri, John O’Hurley and Patrick Warburton, comedian Will Durst and others donated their services.