Submitted Photo Jazmine Schultz, left, and Royce Brown are performers and vocalists for Community Rocks! event on Saturday.

Since its origination in 2015 Community Rocks! has been a sold-out event dedicated to giving back to the community, and it returns for the first time since the pandemic this weekend.

The event is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Grand Hotel, Minot.

“Community Rocks! is a symphony orchestra plus drums, electric bass and guitar that plays classic rock music from the last 50 years,” said Erik Anderson, president and co-founder.

Community Rocks! hosts two events a year. One is in August when local artists, musicians and the community get together to celebrate one another with a music-filled night at the Minot State University Amphitheater. The group also puts on an event in February with a goal of raising money for a selected partner beneficiary.

“This year we are partnering with the Minot Symphony Orchestra. This year will mark the 100th season for the MSO, and one of their goals is to bring a blockbuster film to Minot,” Anderson said. “Something like ‘ET’ or ‘Back to the Future.’ The movie would play on the screen and the MSO would perform the score live.”

The fundraising goal this year will be to raise $40,000 to buy the rights to a blockbuster film for the MSO.

“After this show we will be getting close to half a million dollars raised for the community, “ Anderson said. “So it’s not only an incredibly fun event. It is also something that stimulates the economy in terms of musicians getting paid for their work, and it also generates a lot of money for the community.”

The Community Rocks! board consists of, Andy Bertsch, vice president, treasurer, and co-founder, Kristi Rosselli-Sullivan, Keli Rosselli-Sullivan, Jazmine Schultz, Jane Hirst, Abbie Eads, Lindsey Bertsch and Anderson.

“We formed this board through personal connections,” Anderson said. “They are all energetic, they get stuff done, they are independent and organizational, and above all they really want their work to matter.

“We have a very diverse board when it comes to age, experience and outreach. Each person has their own strengths,” Anderson said. “Our youngest member is our social media manager, Abby and I conduct, other members are very dynamic and know business owners in the area. Andy is great with compiling information and numbers, and all of the organizational side of things. Everyone has their strengths and it makes putting on these events go so much smoother.”

One thing that is the most important to the Community Rocks! board is the community.

“We feel so supported in Minot. The community has really stuck by us. Minot is a special place in that we have a hospital, a university, and an Air Force base. That makes a town of this size so much more diverse and all of that diversity makes for a richer community,” Anderson said. “This event is very much tied to the fact that we have so many people dedicated to the community and to giving back, whether it is longtime North Dakotans or people who have found it to be a great place to live.”