After interviewing two of the three women who were fortunate enough to meet Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney recently, I must admit it raises the interest to attend the Northshore Harbor Center this Friday night, Nov. 21, for the annual “Home is Where the Art Is” fundraiser, put on by the East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity. The event will be held from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Debbie Crouch, executive director for the Slidell Habitat group, said there are still tickets available for $50 per person, or $75 per couple. Call 985-639-0656 to purchase yours since they are selling out very quickly.
And if somehow you got past our front page today and didn’t read the story I am referring to, it is all about a piano painted by Slidell artist Lori Gomez that has been signed by two famous members of the Beatles, and will be on display at the Harbor Center event.
The piano is up for auction this Friday night, and will continue to be auctioned off to the highest bidder through a national auction house, once that company is signed and sealed by Habitat. Don’t be mistaken—anyone can win this auction, if you have enough money, and so far there are reports the piano might bring over $1 million.
But back to the women in the middle of all this.
Lori was the one who painted the piano to assist the annual Habitat for Humanity fundraiser and this year she decided to have a Beatles theme. Kim Bergeron is on the Habitat board putting together the fundraiser and came up with an idea to get Ringo and Paul to sign it. Of course, many people scoffed at the idea since the twosome, Paul in particular, would probably rank among the most popular names in the world.
But if you know Kim Bergeron like I know Kim Bergeron, no task is too big for her to take on. For that matter, I have seen in the past that Kim loves a challenge and enjoys doing what some might consider the impossible, or at least something very close to it.
She got to work, and as the story on page 1A today details, it all happened and the piano now awaits a very large paycheck that will come from some lucky person who will turn in the winning bid. Kim told me she is working with three national auction houses and trying to find the best deal so Habitat will reap the most money out of this amazing work, so we should know all about the results in the coming months. (Yes, it apparently takes that long to line all this kind of thing up.)
Kim said she has been told the piano might bring over $1 million since it is very rare to get Ringo and Paul to both sign anything, especially in this day and age, since they are flooded with so many charity requests that they generally have to turn down virtually all of them. As an example, her research turned up a recent five-minute meet-and-greet with Paul, with no photos allowed, that cost $100,000.
Kim told me she researched the two Beatles extensively and it was the bit of homework that probably was the difference in getting both to agree to sign the piano. She drew upon the personal interests of Paul and Ringo in terms of charity interests, and that helped the proposal fly when they eventually knew about it.
Anyway, if you want to at least see something very special, call Habitat and get your tickets for the benefit, which will have over 100 other great items to bid on, not to mention a great night of eating and drinking, all to help build homes for those who need a little help getting one.
And for that matter, all the proceeds from the piano must go to build homes for veterans only, according to the deal cut by Habitat to get the Beatles to sign it, and no one is allowed to profit in any way from the piano sale, other than Habitat and the work they are doing.
Great job Kim in what you have accomplished, and also to Lori for the idea to paint the Beatles theme. Of course, now the problem will be for next year and figuring out “how do we top this?” Wow, that’s quite a dilemma and I wouldn’t know how they will do it. But knowing some of the folks in this community, I won’t be surprised to see something spectacular again.
—-
Wanted to mention one great idea that came from Fire District #1 in what has become a steady run of public demonstrations directed by new Fire Chief Chris Kaufmann to allow the public to see up close the work they do.
Chief of Prevention Chad Duffaut reported that this Friday, Nov. 21 at 10 a.m., over at the fire department training academy in Camp Villere, they will put on a demonstration involving “how to fry your Thanksgiving turkey,” or more correctly, the way to avoid hazards that can accompany the task.
What a great idea to give the public something that can teach anyone, and hopefully avoid an accident.
If you are free on Friday at 10 a.m., you might want to stop by and see it. Odds are you might get a little advance turkey dinner for your visit!
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Comments are closed.