Feb 22, 2012
BATAVIA — Some local musicians will be giving back while they’re letting the good times roll at HomeCare & Hospice’s Mardi Gras Saturday at Batavia Downs.
Johnny Starowitz and Savage Cabbage are serving as the host band for the event, which will also feature Mac & Company, The Nichols Brothers Band, The Trolls, and Above the Fog.
Starowitz said he and other members of the band have had family members who received hospice services. When was asked if he would perform at Mardi Gras, as a benefit for the HomeCare & Hospice Foundation, Starowitz told organizers, “You take care of everything else and I’ll take care of the music.”
Savage Cabbage has been around since 1979, playing clubs, parties and benefits, giving them an edge in putting together a lineup of bands for the evening.
“It’s a payback. Hospice is a benefit for the patient and the family. A lot of people in the public don’t know it’s out there. It does a lot a good, so we wanted to help raise money,” Starowitz said.
The bands are working together to make sure the music fills the entire evening. Mac & Company will start out the night with a mellow sound and the remaining bands will provide a mix of rock and roll and Southern rock.
“There will be enough to please everybody — continuous music right from the beginning to the end,” Starowitz said. “Everybody is using same equipment, so there won’t be more than five minutes between bands. Each band has six songs to play. At end of the night, if there’s time, we’ll have one big jam with everybody.”
Doors will open at 6 p.m. Around-the-world grazing stations, featuring international cuisine, will be open from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. and a cash bar will be available all evening. Drawings for prize baskets will be held throughout the night, including a giveaway for an overnight stay at the Del Monte Inn. Winners must be present at the time of the drawing.
Tickets are $35, which includes $10 in free play in the Batavia Downs Casino and one entry in the prize basket drawings. To order, call Linda Cummings, HomeCare & Hospice development manager, at 1 (877) 277-2615 or online at www.homecare-hospice.org.
HomeCare & Hospice provides specialized medical care and social/emotional support for patients and families coping with life-limiting illness in Genesee, Wyoming, Allegany and Cattaraugus counties
