Local Organizers Come Together to Host Bandstand Boogie

The first ever Bandstand Boogie free community music event hosted by the Los Gatos Community Foundation rocked Oak Meadow Park Saturday for eight hours, drawing hundreds of people to the show coordinated to raise funds for the new Snack Shack.

Five bands played the charity event including the 2009 and 2010 KFOX Radio Last Band Standing Contest winners OTR and The Houserockers, respectively. San Jose pop-punk band 5606 attracted a younger crowd in the late afternoon, after James Robinson and Neil Hogan serenaded listeners with their acoustic guitars.  

For Bandstand Boogie-goers, the event gave them a chance to contribute to the community by purchasing raffle tickets that were used to buy food and beverages.

Fifty percent of all organized event sales went towards the construction of a snack shack at the upcoming Creekside Sports Park, a 180-by-300-foot soccer stadium at 930 University Ave.

But for local organizers the event presented them with the opportunity to give back to the community that has supported them over the years. “It’s important because—as everyone knows who lives in Los Gatos—it’s a very community-oriented [town] and we’re all helping one another,” said Mary Tomasi-Dubois, fundraising chair person and LGCF board member. “We’re all very dedicated to our community.”

In organizing Bandstand Boogie, the LGCF reached out to a handful of local organizations to help run the event. The 65-year-old Los Gatos Lions Club, winner of the 2010 District Convention Granito Award, “The Best Club in the District,” according to the website, was called on to run the beer and wine booth during the eight-hour show.   

“When you join a service club, whether it be the Lions Club or the Rotary Club, whoever you’re with, the purpose is to give back to the community,” said Mike Moresco, a former Los Gatos business owner and incoming president of the Los Gatos Lions Club.

“That’s what I really believe in,” he said, taking a break from manning the beverage booth.

Paul Kent, lead vocalist and guitar player for The Houserockers, dreamed up the idea for Bandstand Boogie and to bring the idea to life he reached out to the LGCF. "We had an idea this year for an end of summer concert," said Kent, "and Los Gatos is such a great, music-friendly town."

Kent and The Houserockers have been playing for more than a decade and when the plans for Bandstand Boogie were finalized they were excited to raise money for Los Gatos. 

Event sponsors included KFOX, M.E. and Michael E. Fox Family Foundation, Sweeney, Mason, Wilson, and Bosomworth, Restaurant James Randall, Rock Tape, A Place for Teens, and Los Gatos Lions Club.