October fundraiser was for Rock Hall of Fame and more

Ritchie Valens. Buddy Holly. Brenda Lee. Elvin Bishop. All of them have been inducted into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Thanks to an October fundraiser in Newton, the hall has inched closer to displaying its collections of rock history in a more impressive way.

The Oct. 25 “Rock the Rink” benefit concert, held at the West Gate Coliseum roller-skating rink in Newton, brought in enough revenue to make two large contributions.

A group, which included Newton resident and longtime oldies rock organizer Dennis Farland, presented a check to the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall Music Association for about $3,000, and set up a $500 scholarship fund for Newton High School Class of 2015 music and band students.

“We were going to contribute to the IRRMA scholarship fund for this year, but they’ve already met that fund,” Farland said. “So we made a donation to them and are using the rest here in Newton.”

Farland said the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is housed in a small, rented building in Arnolds Park on the east shore of West Okoboji Lake, and is fundraising to build a permanent structure in that area. The rented facility “needs work” in terms of disrepair, Farland said, and much of the memorabilia is in storage, with no room for it to be displayed.

The lineup for the Oct. 25 concert featured NHS senior and former American Idol contestant Dani Heikkila, 2010 IRRMA Spirit Award recipient Richie Lee and his band, The Fabulous 50s; and members of Newton’s own 8-Track Band.

“We got about 600 people to come out,” Farland said, describing the event.

Newton High staff (possibly the school’s guidance counselors, Farland said) review which 2015 graduate will get the $500 scholarship. The scholarship is for seniors planning on majoring in music in college, and Farland said enough money was raised for a 2016 graduate to get a $500 scholarship as well.

Farland said the Newton High Scholarship will be called the “Winter Dance Party Tour Memorial Scholarship.”

The Winter Dance Party Tour ended with the “Day the Music Died” February plane crash north of Clear Lake that killed Holly, Valens, J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson of Alta. IRRMA has done benefit work in the hometowns of all four crash victims.

As sort of third outcome of the fundraiser, a check for $100 was given to Heikkila by the Rock the Rink committee as part of a charity effort that gets Christmas gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated, Farland said.

Farland, a charter member of IRRMA when it was formed in the mid-1990s, has been involved with many oldies-rock shows and tours through the years. He helped organize the Winter Dance 40th Anniversary Tour, playing in the same cities as the ill-fated 1959 tour.

Valens’ sister, Connie, was so warmly embraced by the people of Iowa, she decided to move from California to the Arnold’s Park area in 2012. She told the Sioux City Journal that Iowa “has become a home I never knew I had,” and Farland said charity work is as important as passing down knowledge about musicians like Ritchie Valens.

Farland said he’s thankful to all 600 of the attendees of the October show.

“Some people told me later that they would have come, but they thought, because it was at the rink, it was a skating event,” he said. “And they didn’t want to roller skate.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com.