Foster Care program fund raiser held Friday night

The foster care program of the CHS-Parkersburg site held a fund raiser Friday night, a Cajun Cook Off and Hank Williams music tribute show at the Dils Center in downtown Parkersburg. The foster care staff, and many others from the site and community, worked hard to put on this fun event. Local restaurants (The Polo Club, Western Sizzlin' and River City Tavern and Grill) and 4 individual cooks participated in the event. The attendees expressed great appreciation for the tasty Cajun dishes worked up by the cooks. We had some great prizes, and even though the voting was (hopefully) friendly and spirited, we thank all the cooks for their contributions. The Polo Club won in the restaurant division and Joe Peyton won in the individual division. Once the music started, the audience was treated to three (well, four, counting our late mystery guest) acts of great music honoring the songs of Hank Williams. The Queens, and their Neon Moon Band got us off to a rollicking start, and Steve Peck and Jonny Nutter added solo performances, rounding out the line up. They all put a great effort into their song selections and performances, and the audience really gets immersed in the music. JT and Corey Smith have been doing the sound for these tribute benefits for quite a while now, and work hard with all the musicians to set it up. The CHS staff were exhausted by the end of the night, and they did a great job of putting this on, and getting the community involved in our work with area children and families. We are finalizing the donations and costs, but it will be around $1000 raised to support the foster care program here in Parkersburg.