More Than A Job (#2)

Country Concert 2010 is a big 3-day festival that literally clears out a lot of the towns in our area each year.

We had our “VIP SkyDeck” bus as close to the stage as we’d want to be, and it was loaded with listeners and clients throughout the weekend. Really a cool vantage point from high above the crowd, and we got rave reviews from everyone that attended.

Justin Moore came over and hung out for awhile on our SkyDeck, Steel Magnolia came by… they were great. We go out through the campgrounds each morning (in our Ambulance!) and deliver “Hangover Survival Kits” with a toothbrush, granola bar, bottle of water, etc. It’s always really great, and we get a lot of awesome response from it, but it’s a pain in the butt to stuff those bags each night. This year, Steel Magnolia (spelling "O-H-I-O") was hanging out, saw us stuffing the bags, and came over to help!

The best part of the weekend though, started was something I nearly dodged. Early on Saturday, a woman walked up to our rig and asked if I had any way to get her daughter to meet Keith Urban. I did have an arrangement to get into the meet & greet, but for all I knew this woman was from Timbuktu. She told me the story of her daughter that had been involved in the Make A Wish Foundation, and her wish was to meet Keith Urban. However, she aged out of eligibility for the program before the wish could be granted, so she was S.O.L. I was skeptical, but she produced some newspaper clippings of her daughter’s chronic illness, and how she raised over $100,000 for a Heart Walk, etc. Though the Make A Wish thing wasn’t happening for her, their community pulled together enough $$ to get them tickets for Keith’s day at Country Concert, which is not cheap. A ticket to get in on Saturday was $110 for one.

We took her daughter back to meet Keith, and though I’m sure he’s used to crying women throwing themselves at him, it was still a pretty touching moment.

I privately spoke with Keith’s manager on site, explained the situation, and we were told to wait at the end of the line and he’d spend a few extra minutes with our group, which he did. He focused on her for the bulk of the time, was unbelievably attentive, and when he asked what her favorite song was, what her name was, and how to spell it, I knew something great was going to happen on stage. We gave her our stage front tickets, and sent a video camera with her for a part of the show, which just happened to be when Keith dedicated her favorite song, “Kiss A Girl” to her. Truly an unbelievable night that made a very ill girl smile, and forget, even for a moment, what she’s been going through.

-- Dave Crosser, Operations Director, Maverick Media of Lima/WFGF