Blues enthusiasts in the Springfield area will be busy the next two weekends. Tonight it's a concert by Anthony Gomes. Next Saturday May 18 is the 9th annual "Stomp The Blues Out of Homelessness" music festival, from 1:00 to 10:00pm at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks Thomson Center, 222 West Plainview Road (aka Farm Road 182), at Campbell Avenue. Four musical acts will perform, and proceeds this year benefit five local charities, according to longtime event organizer Jim Payne: Laura's Home and Darr House, both operated by Good Samaritan Boys Ranch; Women in Need of the Ozarks, which Payne describes as "probably our biggest benefactor;" Play It Forward SWMO, which supplies musical instruments to kids who could otherwise not afford them; and Rare Breed Youth Services, operated by The Kitchen, Inc. Jim Payne came up with the idea of "Stomp The Blues" in 2011. "It started because my wife and I were involved with a homeless drop-in center, doing the lunch program. And a local DJ
↧