Vintage

07-26-05
Leslie Jones McCloud
Copyright July 2005
GARY--Passersby grabbed for shirts and other promotional items Tuesday at a Soul 106.3 live remote held outside of Mercantile Bank on Melton Road.
The event, sponsored by Edgewater Systems for Balanced Living, was held to promote a concert Friday July 29 at Marquette Park Pavilion featuring artist Angela Bofill and an array of classic automobiles.
However, to get free tickets to "Vintage Night on the Lagoon" Bofill fans will have to listen to the radio.
James Ward, Director of Marketing for Edgewater, said 12 pairs of tickets to the event will be given away this week to listeners during 106.3 radio contests.
"Dr. Hughes is excellent at building relationships. (she) also likes music from the 70s and 80s," Ward said.
Tickets to the event are $50 and the attire is white, Ward said, because it promotes the idea of a summertime beach concert.
The event is being coordinated by the Ambassadors of Edgewater, a group of community members and business owners who are committed to supporting the non-profit behavioral health care company.
Roosevelt Haywood III, President and CEO of Haywood and Fleming Associates, is one of the many Ambassadors for Edgewater. He said their numbers swell and shrink but at least 12 members are working on the concert. Haywood specializes in insurance and risk
management and is helping to promote Vintage Night through his business.
"It is the prominent health care system in Gary and Northwest Indiana. Ambassadors support the mission of Edgewater and raise funds," Haywood said. He also said the concert gears community members up for the annual Ambassadors Ball held in October.
Ward said they have had as many as 21 Ambassadors at one point.
However many, CEO of Edgewater, Danita Johnson Hughes, Ph.D, is a fan of classic songs and the Ambassadors of Edgewater. She said she was thrilled to find out Bofill had been booked for the event.
"I love her. I remember her from back-in-the-day. The Ambassadors are extremely helpful because they have been in the community for a long time and they are very active," Johnson Hughes said.
Funds raised will be used for new and enhanced programs such as shelter and care for homeless teenagers and educational or prevention programs at Edgewater.
The concert, for the most part has become an annual event that the community as well as Edgewater employees have come to enjoy.
"Its a chance to mingle and get out and have a good time. Last year they had the Spaniels I believe and vintage cars. It's really a good time," Armelia Johnson, who works in the finance department for Edgewater, said.
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