Feb 28, 2008

Well-known Branson entertainers and a long list of valuable prizes are lined up for a benefit program this Saturday night to help a brother and sister who recently lost both their parents. Several local clubs and organizations have joined in sponsoring a benefit program for Ava students Tommy and Sarah Coffey. Branson comedian Terry Sanders, from Mtn. Grove, will entertain and serve as emcee for the program which will be held in the Ava High School Cafeteria beginning at 6 p.m. Other performers will be Bob Mabe & the Old Time Kitchen Band, and Sons of Thunder. Bob Mabe is a founder and original member of the Baldknobbers. Sons of Thunder features Howard Hale, a member of the Baldknobbers for 35 years and member of the Branson Music Hall of Fame, and Larry Morrison, of Ava. Hale is an Ava native and graduate of Ava High School. Sponsors of the program include the Ava Area Ministerial Alliance, Ava Lions Club, Ava Masonic Lodge, Ava Eastern Star, Ava Kiwanis Club and Ava PEO. Teachers at the Ava Public Schools have also assisted greatly in helping these two students who have little family in the area. A number of prizes will be given away throughout the evening, and the sponsoring organizations are selling tickets for those drawings at this time. Advance tickets are also being sold for $10 for adults or $5 for students. Tickets for the numerous drawings may be purchased from members of any of the sponsoring organizations. Items to be given away include a color TV, $50 savings bonds, a Home Interiors gift basket, a $125 floor lamp, a gas grill, and a Hutch’s fried chicken dinner for four. Sponsors say many more items have been donated for the drawings, with items still coming in from the community. Sandra Carlson, mother of Tommy and Sarah Coffey, died Feb. 4. Their father, Thomas Coffey, died Oct. 8, 2006. Tommy and Sarah have aunts and uncles living in the area.