Santa Rosa concert showcases what’s important during the holidays

This time last year Mike and Lisa Sloat were starting to feel their family had lost sight of what the holidays are supposed to be about.

“It was a case of the ‘I wants,’” Lisa Sloat said Sunday.

The Santa Rosa couple vowed things would be different this year, and rather than focus on their own family’s wants they would pay more attention to others in need.

That was the spark for “Concert for Compassion,” held Sunday in Santa Rosa as a benefit for two local charities serving the homeless.

About 300 people packed inside the Saturday Afternoon Club on 10th Street to enjoy one of the two holiday performances, which featured local musicians and members of the Sloat family.

The Sloats raised about $3,500 for charity through ticket sales, a silent auction, a raffle and sales of baked goods, CDs and T-shirts. Concertgoers also contributed by donating food, winter coats and new pairs of socks.

“We’re super happy with it,” Mike Sloat said later Sunday night. “Aside from the money, we have bags of new socks and winter coats, and the food bank bin was overflowing.”

John Warner, a neighbor of the Sloats, said he and his wife, Donna, attended the concert Sunday because they enjoy helping “the underdog.”

“That’s why we brought 20 pairs of socks,” Warner said.

Mike Sloat, 45, recruited the musicians, including members of his thrash metal band, “The King Must Die.” His two youngest daughters, Lily, 10, and Ada, 7, joined him onstage for some of the musical numbers. Sloat’s eldest daughter, 17-year-old Emma, helped with art direction.

A native of Santa Rosa, Mike Sloat said he has watched with concern as the city’s homeless population has grown. As a video producer, he said he saw the problem up-close while on assignment at the Redwood Gospel Mission.

The mission and Catholic Charities were beneficiaries of Sunday’s concert.

Molly Jackel of Sebastopol attended the concert with her son Ruben Howell, 7. Jackel said she wanted him to “see what can happen when you come together.”

The musicians played many of the holiday standards, as well as two of Mike Sloat’s original holiday offerings: “Festivus for the Rest of Us,” and “The Bells in the Square.”

The event also showcased the supper club, which has been at the 10th Street location since 1908, according to Vicki Cannefax, the club’s house director.

“We haven’t seen this many people here in a long time,” Cannefax said Sunday.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 707-521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com.