Battle of the Bands At VFW To Benefit Breast Cancer Patients

By: Betsy Reason

Our local Ralph Lehr Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Noblesville will open its doors to the community this Saturday for an all-day event called Battle for Betty.

Money goes to the eight-year-old Remember Betty Foundation, a nonprofit raising money to help minimize the financial burden for patients with breast cancer and survivors so that they can focus on recovery and quality of life.

Want TO GO?

What: Battle4Betty Battle of the Bands.

When: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Ralph Lehr Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6246, 654 S. Ninth St., Noblesville.

How much: Free.

Who are the bands: Fast Cadillac, 2:30-3:30 p.m.; RougHouse, 4-5 p.m.; and Strawbury Jam, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

What else: 50/50 raffle, silent auction, live auction, cash bar, T-shirt sales, $10 pulled pork/chicken plate.

Who to contact: Email [email protected] or call Michelle Dixon at 317-292-1252 or Lorrena Story at 317-965-3901.

It’s for a good cause with perfect timing. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Noblesville’s Michelle Dixon, who is helping find sponsors and donors for the event, said she was introduced to the Remember Betty Foundation by her 1989 Noblesville High School classmate Lorrena Story who, Dixon said, “asked me if I would be interested in helping her start up an Indiana chapter called Team Betty Indiana.

Story is a “BlockHead,” a fan following New Kids on the Block, a boy band that was highly successful in the late 1980s and early 1990s, paving the way for future boy bands. Danny Wood is a member of the band, and his mother, Elizabeth “Betty” Wood was diagnosed with breast cancer and lost her battle. The BlockHeads rallied around him, and he decided to honor her memory and put funds raised by BlockHeads and started the Remember Betty Foundation. His sister, Bethany, is a breast cancer survivor and the director of Remember Betty.

“You don’t have to be a Block Head to volunteer,” Dixon said.

This Saturday, three bands — Fast Cadillac, Roughouse and Strawbury Jam — will perform at the fundraising event, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the VFW Post at 654 S. Ninth St., Noblesville. Admission is free to the family-friendly event. Fast Cadillac will perform at 2:30 p.m., RougHouse at 4 p.m. and Strawbury Jam at 5:30 p.m.

Two special live auction items will be auctioned between band sets, an Epiphone Les Paul Junior Guitar and a signed bottle of Flecha Azul Tequila by actor Mark Wahlburg, past member of the New Kids on the Block band. Silent auctions, 50/50 raffles, and selling meals and T-shirts are among the ways that fundraising will occur.

Food will be available for $10 per plate. The menu features pulled pork and chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, chips, cookies and brownies.

Event T-shirts are $15.

The event will also have a memory/honor banner in which attendees can purchase a ribbon and write a name on the ribbon and place it on the banner.

In 2022, Remember Betty provided financial assistance to more than 100 families.

Dixon is a member of Team Betty Indiana, which in 2022 raised nearly $9,500 as a newly formed team. “The money raised at Battle for Betty will go regionally,” she said.

Team Betty has had a few events or fundraisers on a smaller scale for St. Patrick’s Day, floral design classes at Oberer’s Flowers, Paint and Sip and selling Remember Swag and Apparel.

Dixon has been reaching out to the community for support, for businesses and organizations to donate gift baskets for the auctions. In turn, the event will share the generosity of donors on social media as well as posting donors’ names at the event.

Dixon said they were brainstorming about how to bring Remember Betty to the public and generate interest and more donations. That’s how Battle 4 Betty / Battle of the Bands got started.

Organizers contacted local bands “that we knew had a local following,” she said. The three bands playing Saturday for the fundraiser were all willing to donate an hour set for the Battle of the Bands. “We are so grateful to our three bands, RougHouse, Strawberry Jam and Fast Cadillac (the latter of which features her husband, Barry Dixon on electric bass).

“The winner of the Battle will be determined by most tips received,” Dixon said. Each $1 tip equals one vote.

Monetary sponsorship donations at or more than $250 will have their company or organization name displayed during the event and on the event T-shirt. Sponsorship donations will be used toward the cost of food and supply costs for the event.

“We would like to recognize and thank our sponsors who have donated to the event so 100 percent of our donations collected can be utilized by Remember Betty,” Dixon said. Besides the VFW Post, sponsors include Greenvista Landscaping, Bill Kitchens Body Shop, Story’s Collision, Gerber and Co. Foods.

Dixon said, “I agreed to help Lorrena because I had an aunt who was affected by breast cancer and several close friends that have gone through breast cancer treatment, surgeries, chemo, reconstruction surgeries that are either in remission or currently battling.”

For more information or to make a donation, email [email protected] or call Dixon at 317-292-1252 or Lorrena Story at 317-965-3901.

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact The Times Editor Betsy Reason at [email protected].