Benefit concert raises money for firefighters
Big Tiny Entertainment’s Give Burns The Boot benefit concert raised $911 for the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation earlier this month at Downtown Calhoun’s GEM Theatre.
The show, held Feb. 6, featured performances from southern rock band Them Dirty Roses and Calhoun native Chloe Litton, who released her first solo album “In Bloom” in 2019.
“The money we raised is money that people donated on their own and decided to give because they see what these firefighters do in our communities and wanted to give back to them,” Promoter Billy Lambert said. “Overall, that right there means this was a success.”
Following the success of the Saturday, Feb. 6 show, Lambert said he hopes to host another concert benefitting local firefighters in September.
He has already started reaching out to bands that he hopes to book for that show, but said he would not be announcing who those bands were until he had them booked to participate, which largely depends on COVID-19 regulations being rolled back so that the GEM can host a full-capacity event.
“The fortunate thing for that show if it happens is this band has a wide following all across the Southeast, so I know I can sell it out if they agree to come. We’ll be able to make a really big difference,” he said. “But that really depends on everyone getting vaccinated and the state giving us the go-ahead to open things back up a little bit.”
Currently, seating at the GEM Theatre is limited in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Public Health.
More information about the GEM and future shows can be found online at www.calhoungemtheatre.org.