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BETHANY CLANCY
Staff Writer
Every Fall semester, the Fredonia radio station teams up with WNYF and Sound Services to put on a benefit event, Rockin’ the Commons, to raise money for Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY.
The all-day event takes place in Barker Commons in downtown Fredonia, which features performances from local bands, a cappella groups from campus, a bake sale set up by Habitat for Humanity, CDs for sale, chicken dinners for sale and this year also featured LuLaRoe clothing. There couldn’t have been a better day for this event with the hot weather, people walking their dogs and the family friendly atmosphere.
Planning for this event starts at the end of the Spring semester and then over the summer everything is put together; once school is back in session the whole FRS team puts on the finishing touches and waits for the day to arrive.
Lily Fischer, a senior video production major, is the station manager at FRS. This is her fourth and final year working Rockin’ the Commons and it might have been her best one yet. She mentioned how surreal it is and how smoothly it ran.
“Past years we always had a few hiccups, just like any event, but this year it’s safe to say there [have] been no hiccups,” she said. “I’m so proud of our e-board and our station as a whole; I’m proud of this event and raising a lot of money for a good cause. It’s their biggest event of the year and they all love working it.”
Lexi Reyngoudt, a senior audio/radio production major, set up all of the acts on her own. This was the first show that she had booked completely by herself. Some of these acts included Some Like It Hot, Much More Chill, Post Prom, Northernstate, Dreambeaches and M.A.G.S.
Even when bands weren’t performing, there was music playing which made the in-between time fly by.
Fredonia alumnus Dianna Hawryluk, class of 2016, has been going for the past few years and actually worked a few of them before she graduated. Hawryluk said that she was the music director and organized the CD sale at past events. She loved supporting it as much as she could every year since it’s for such a good cause. According to Hawryluk, compared to past years, this one has run so much more smoothly.
“There’s a great turnout; it feels like everything is going with the flow instead of rushing around and panicking to get things working,” she said.
At the end of the event, members of FRS announced winners of the raffle baskets and gift cards that were donated by Red Bird Tattoo, Domus Fare, Blasdell Pizza and others.
Amelia Marotta, a senior sound recording technology major, has attended the past three Rockin’ the Commons events and said that this year’s musicians were very well adjusted to performing already.
“It was cool to see the level of showmanship and energy compared to past years’ more laid back acts,” she said.
Marotta loves going to this event each year because of the hard work and team effort put in by Fredonia Radio Systems, WNYF and Sound Services.
Before this event, Marotta had never seen Dreambeaches perform their newer music live, so she really enjoyed them along with all of the energy each band had.
By the end of the day, Rockin’ the Commons raised a little over $2,000 for Roswell cancer research.