USVAP eNews
June 2010
June, 2010 - Vol 1, Issue 1 |
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Greetings!
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 Welcome to our first monthly newsletter from USVAP, with updates on our recent activities.
This month we would like to re-cap the USVAP benefit we had in May at
the Hard Rock Café here in Chicago, featuring the Lt. Dan Band with Gary Sinise and Kimo Williams, which raised funds for our "Artistic Tools®" program. We will include information about the 2010 recipients later in this newsletter.
We're also evolving our name and our mission: along with our board of directors, we have discovered that you have responded so positively to
the Artistic Tools® program that we are making it one of the focal points of our new mission, which is to increase the participation of veterans in
the arts community. We've also adapted our name to include that emphasis,
and although the acronym stays the same, we are now the United States
Veterans Art Program (www.usvap.org).
We look forward to sharing our enthusiasm with you, and hope we can combine our passion for veteran's issues with our appreciation for the arts. |
Hard Rock Benefit
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Hard Rock Image  | Fans of the Lt. Dan Band
and supporters of USVAP congregated at the Hard Rock Café in downtown Chicago on May 7th for
an evening of great music, a raffle and silent auction, and an opportunity to "Meet
and Greet" Gary Sinise. USVAP also presented the 2010 Artistic Tools® to two wounded Iraq veterans. The surprise of the night was the
success of some of the auction items, including a signed framed portrait of the
band (now to be included in our on-line store (store) as well as several framed and signed photographs
taken by Kimo. An unbelievable
deal was won by long-time USVAP supporter Glenda Cain; the package for the
annual CSI party in LA, whic included American Airlines (USVAP's official airline) tickets for two. Many people went home
with guitars, oil paintings, cigars and humidor from David Hadid (www.fumarcigars.usa.com),
Cubs tickets, Steppenwolf tickets, and one lucky person took home a baseball
signed by Carlos Zambrano. We would like to recognize and thank our supporters and donors; they are listed on our website at http://www.usvap.org/donors.html
You can view photos of the
event on our website, and we hope they prove the cliche that "a good time was had by all". We hope to see you next
year, but in the meantime, we will be organizing another on-line auction in
August. |
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Artistic Tools® Update |
 At the Hard Rock Café event,
we presented tools to two veterans who have been injured in Iraq and
Afganistan: we have the full story
of their experiences and aspirations on our website. Paul Plemmons was given a
Gibson electric guitar, which will replace the guitar that was stolen from him
before he was deployed overseas.
He has been an aspiring guitarist most of his life, and we hope he will
be able to continue to enjoy playing now that he can wrap his fingers around a
fretboard. He recently completed
treatment at Brooke Army Medical center, and is recouperating well enough to no
longer need the wheelchair he was confined to when Kimo met him there at a LTDB
concert in 2009. Paul Delacerda was given a
MAC Book Pro, in order to continue his work as a graphics designer. Paul is also a drummer, but his ability
and education as a graphics artist has been so consuming that it has now become
his primary focus. He has recently been commissioned by the Hard Rock Café to
design a commemorative pin to be sold at their gift shop. The two Pauls join our other
three recipients from previous years.
We keep an update of their activities on our website. |
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Meet The Board
| Kimo Williams (President/Executive Director) Hiep Do (Vice President) Michelle Woods (Vice President) Nissan Wasfie (Director)
Carol Williams (Treasurer/Secretary) Ajay Gosain (Director) Kim Anh Nguyen Thi (Director) Robert Ogburn (Honorary) Gary Sinise (Honorary)
Please go to the USVAP website for details information about each board member.
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In our July news, we'll have links to videos of our performances at the Hue Festival with Kimotion (www.kimotion.org). Carol Williams
(on vocals, keyboards and flute) and Kimo Williams (on vocals and guitar) were
backed up by a fantastic bass player (Geoffrey Lowe) and drummer (Vance Okraszewski). We were joined by the long-time LTDB production team of James Stuckmann and Tristan Beache, as well as board member Heip Do, who was invaluable as our guide,
translator
and "Damage Control Officer". Board member Kim Anh Nuygen was on site in Hue with much-needed assistance. We also had a concert at the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory, where we presented Artistic Tools to residents of a Vietnamese orphanage near the city, and gave a workshop on music technology at the Hue Academy of Music in conjunction with the
Fulbright Specialist Program.
Watch for USVAP on CAN TV here in Chicago, as our short programs "American Soldier" and "Empty Boots" will be aired throughout the month of July. And on Thursday, July 29th, and 6:30PM, Carol will produce our second "Veterans Issues" program for USVAP on CAN TV 19.
Thanks so much for your support with all you do.
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 Kimo Williams Executive Director United States Veterans Arts Program (USVAP)
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