Green Pastures Fundraiser 2018
2018 · Green Pastures Campground, near Meredosia, Illinois
The 2018 Green Pastures Fundraiser carried on the annual benefit for the camp's youth programs, with Ken Bradbury emceeing an evening of piano, vocals, storytelling, dance, and comedy. Two by Two — now celebrating their 31st year together — anchored the program, and the lineup again drew on Green Pastures campers, counselors, and board members. Among the new faces were pianist Caleb Holaway (a JHS valedictorian who went on to Maryville and the St. Louis Symphony, and Ken's cousin), vocalist Alek President (Rushville, Spoon River, with New York auditions and Atlanta credits), and writer Hannah Shanks, who first came as a very young camper, became a counselor, and now serves as a board member and director of the Social Work program at Greenville University.
Program
Act I
- Roger Davis — piano and vocal
- Hannah and Her Dancers
- Caleb Holaway — piano
- Alek President — vocal
- "Let's Make Up" Improv — Hope (Cherry), Joel, Brenan, Hannah, Brandon, Kyler (with slide show)
- Karla Huppe
- Two by Two
Act II
- Hannah Shanks — storytelling
- Rick Barger — vocal
- Brock Gwaltney — piano
- "Let's Make Up" Improv — comedy
- 6-hand piano — "This Little Light"
- Two by Two
Performers
Ken Bradbury (emcee), Two by Two (John Rohn, Ray Anderson, Wes Hendricker), Roger Davis, Hannah and Her Dancers, Caleb Holaway, Alek President, Hope Cherry, Karla Huppe, Hannah Shanks, Rick Barger, Brock Gwaltney, and the "Let's Make Up" improv group.
Production Notes
The night included a slide show during the improv set and, between acts, Ken's reminders of the camp's history and mission — founded by Doris and Bud Groat in 1978 (later hosted by Cary and Sharon Coker), Green Pastures hosted roughly 400–500 kids a summer across a dozen camps, with each child paying about half the cost and some unable to pay anything. As always, the fundraiser closed with Two by Two, whose member Wes Hendricker had originated the idea of holding these benefits.