REBECCA HALE
Assistant Reverb Editor
Saturday afternoon, members of Fredonia Radio Systems hosted their annual Rockin’ the Commons event in Barker Commons to raise money for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The event typically raises a few thousand dollars for cancer research, and this year’s donated funds came to $2558.
Rockin’ the Commons brings the campus and community together for an eight-hour live broadcast of music, food and festivities. The event featured catering by Weidner Barbeque, which donated all proceeds.
Normally, Rockin’ the Commons is an event put on in the Spring, but Fredonia Radio Systems decided to have it in the fall this year in hopes of a better turnout and better weather. Sure enough, the weather was beautiful for the event and plenty of students and community members alike came out to listen.
The live music started at 11 a.m. and continued through the day until 7 p.m. Performances featured a capella groups Some Like It Hot and Much More Chill, as well as performers Annasun, Darling Harbor, Danny Paladino, Deanna Civilette, Ellsworth, Ruckman and the Basterds, Mooses, Sweet Apollo and Dollar Diplomacy.
Holly Machuga is a senior public relations major and is the Staff Representative for Fredonia Radio Systems. She explained the benefits of having an off-campus event.
“The nice thing about having it in Barker Commons is that we have a lot of our local businesses right there,” she said. “It’s really a group project to do this, because we have to get the town involved, and then the community gets involved.”
However, community member and local business owner Jill Michalski, 46, believes that the event should involve local businesses more to foster a larger turnout.
“I think it’s a fabulous event: the weather cooperated beautifully, I think it’s great that it’s a benefit for Roswell; I enjoyed the chicken dinner, I love all the comradery, and I love live music,” Michalski said. “[Still,] if the college could partner with businesses, and businesses could also partner with the college, it would make it even more win-win.”
Nonetheless, many businesses in the community contribute by donating baskets for the raffle. This year, over thirty baskets were donated. Donors included the Cool Little Music Shop, Pucci’s, Upper Crust, Fresh and Fancy, Karen’s Hairem, DeJohn’s, Thrive Nutrition, the Tobin family, the Devine family, Fredonia Student Accounts, the Kurbs family, Jud Huessler, Kearsten Nadrich, the Lewandowski family, Meghan Devine, Rachel Grant, Holly Machuga, Lexi Ziccardi, Fredonia Radio Systems, Laura Johnson, Alumni Hall, Tommy Pezzulo, University Commons, Gregory Hall and Kasling Hall.
Baskets that were raffled contained a multitude of items, from candy and movies to gift cards, a ukulele and even an autographed poster of Maroon 5.
Members of Fredonia Radio Systems worked the raffle and barbeque tables, while Sound Services kept the concert sounding great. Students and e-board members worked the sound boards to keep the broadcast going through both campus stations, 88.9 WCVF and 89.5 WDVL.
Leading up to the event, Fredonia Radio Systems also casted a 36-hour live broadcast they called“Radio-A-Thon,” starting Thursday night and leading up to Rockin’ the Commons.
Alex Ziccardi, a junior audio production major and the WDVL Program Director for Fredonia Radio Systems, explained how she lined up bands to play at Rockin’ the Commons.
“I thought of [bands] that would have a good stage presence for the show —[bands that are] family-friendly, [and play] good music,” Ziccardi said. “Basically, I contacted a bunch of bands who I thought would fit, and a lot of them were super excited to play. Within a few hours, Rockin’ the Commons was booked.”
Most of the bands that played were local bands, but some came as far as from Buffalo to perform.