25 June 2001 For more information, contact: Alan Jenkins, (715) 877-2111

Writers and Musicians Organize Siren Tornado Relief Benefit

Eau Claire -- Writers and musicians in the Chippewa Valley will present a

benefit concert of music, poetry and prose on Saturday, June 30, to benefit

the victims of the Siren tornado. The event will be held in the lobby of

the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center, 316 Eau Claire Street, Downtown Eau

Claire at 7pm.

A donation of $10.00 will be requested at the door as the price of

admission. Larger donations will be welcomed.

All proceeds will go to the Chippewa Valley Chapter of the American Red

Cross for disaster relief for the northwestern Wisconsin town which was hit

on Monday, June 18, by a deadly Level 3 tornado, killing three people and

leaving the town in ruins.

Traci Anderson, Emergency Services Coordinator for the Chippewa Valley

Chapter of the American Red Cross will be present to give a first-hand

account of the situation in Siren. Although it is unconfirmed at this

writing, an official from the Village of Siren may also be on hand.

The musicians include: Folk singer-songwriter Billy Krause; popular

entertainer Warren Petryk of The Memories; and bluesman Bobby O.

The writers include: humorist Mike Perry; poet Yvette Flaten, past editor

of the Wisconsin Poets Calendar; and poet Nadine St. Louis, whose book

Weird Sisters has recently been published by Wolfsong Publications.

The event will be hosted by poet Alan Jenkins, editor of FUSE, a regional

journal of poetry published by the Friends of the L.E. Phillips Memorial

Public Library.

There will also be a special auction by Jim Severson of a lodging package

at Stout's Lodge near Mikana. The package, valued at nearly $500, has been

donated by The Koxlien Group, a telecommunications consulting company in

Eau Claire.

For information on Red Cross aid for Siren, call Anderson at (715) 834-4182