Jam session brings in the bucks

A jam session in High River recently kicked into high gear efforts to paint a mural to honour local musician Mel Wilson.

Elaine Schow says the event at Sally's was a success in a lot of ways, not just financially, although it was a success there.

'The effort went very very well at the jam and we were so full of gratitude and surprise, I mean we knew that it would be a good fundraiser but at the end of the day when the monies were all calculated and put into the gofundme we were very grateful and very excited, this takes us very close to our target amount," she says. 

"There was some tears and some laughter and just lots of connection amongst people and I think that's what Melvin would have liked and people, like me, we're still talking to Melvin and I know that Melvin's getting a really big kick out of this and he's cheering us on."

They have a goal of $12,500 dollars and went into the event at just around $5,000 but now have just over $9,600.

They'll go looking for some grant money to hopefully finish off the fundraising and with the gofundme getting them closer to their goal, she says, that should convince people the community is fully behind it.

"The mural is for Melvin, but the mural is equally for the community that loved Melvin, you know, how he touched their lives and that was kind of our plan all along."

She says they'll also continue to point people in the direction of the gofundme to help get them over the top.

Kyla Boruck thanked everyone for their participation.