J. Erik Anderson, Andy Bertsch, Minot

For the 6th year in a row, our community hosted another successful Community Rocks! concert held Feb. 15 at the Grand Hotel. As has been done every year since its inception, Community Rocks! partners with a local community beneficiary to stage an annual classic rock concert. This year’s primary beneficiary was Prairie Grit Adaptive Sports.

Every year the beneficiary provides a host of volunteers who dedicate time and energy to ensure the concert is a success. Headed by Krystal Butgereit and Drew Hanson, PGAS of Minot helped us secure corporate sponsors, sell tickets, organize the event, and spread the word of this unique concert. Because of the great people at PGAS, our Community Rocks!

We owe a big thank you to the entire 38-member orchestra, most of whom are friends and family from right here in Minot. These talented musicians dedicated their time in practice and rehearsal to perform 3-plus hours of classic rock standards that Minot will be talking about for a long time. To showcase helping us create the rock concert atmosphere, we pay tribute to Brandon Trondson of More Than Music who specializes in sound, lighting, and tech.

By far the most important group that supports this event is the audience. Without your attendance, this event would not be possible. What good is putting on a show or throwing a party if no one shows up? The fact that we have packed the Grand Hotel six years in a row is not lost on us. Thank you Minot!

Corporate sponsors and auction donors – too numerous to name here – came aboard early in the planning process. Please find us on Facebook and online at www.CommunityRocksND.org to see our postings about all of our sponsors and above all, please support and thank them! We set a record this year with 38 corporate sponsors. An event like this could not be possible without the support of the entire community including corporate sponsors.

This year we set a record in total gifts: $51,500. We held our Gifting Ceremony on March 9 at the Grand Hotel where we gave away the proceeds to 13 different charities. To see the names of every charity we gave to this year, please visit our website at www.CommunityRocksND.org.

We are limited in the total length of a letter allowed yet there are so many more people to thank. Please visit us on Facebook or at our website (www.CommunityRocksND.org) to find the entire letter and all who made this year’s event possible. In closing, thank you to all who supported and attended CommunityRocks! 2020. There is already buzz about Community Rocks! 2021. If you visit us on Facebook or at www.CommunityRocksND.org you will also find our 2020 survey. We’d love to hear from you and we hope to see you at Community Rocks! 2021.

Anderson and Bertsch are co-founders of Community Rocks!