THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110346
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
More than 25 Outer Banks businesses donated money, time and merchandise to the 6th annual Avant-Garde Blues Festival last fall. Dozens of people contributed time and talent.
The daylong outdoor concert, held Sept. 24 in the Dare Centre parking lot, was widely touted as a fund-raiser for the Dare County HIV Task Force for AIDS awareness.
But as of Wednesday, the task force had not received a penny in proceeds from the event.
Last year, the task force got $1,250 from the festival.
``He gave us the unsold T-shirts so we could keep any income we got from them,'' HIV Task Force Chair Temple Heggie said of the festival's organizer, former Avant-Garde hair salon owner Don Stacy.
``He told us there was no money coming this year because the event was so poorly attended. He didn't ask us for any help or support this year'' to organize the event, said Heggie. ``He put the whole thing on himself.
``But some sponsors have expressed concern to me that we haven't received any money.''
Task force members did not initiate the investigation into Stacy's fund-raiser. No one has accused Stacy of wrongdoing.
But business owners who donated everything from $350 cash to a brand-new beach bike said this week that they had expected their contributions would help a good, charitable cause.
``I've donated to that thing the last two years. I gave him a $250 check this year,'' said Jim Geraghty, owner of Oyster Bay Realty & Construction Co. ``It makes me upset that the task force never got that money.''
Stacy said he didn't make any profit from the festival. Production costs exceeded the income from sponsorships, ticket and T-shirt sales, he said. ``This year was a dud because of the weather,'' Stacy said last week from his Kitty Hawk home. ``It basically broke even. I had to pay $200 out of my own pocket just to make ends meet.''
But after accounting for sponsorship donations, in-kind contributions and even Stacy's conservative estimates of ticket and T-shirt sales, the numbers just don't add up.
According to figures from receipts that Stacy provided, receipts businesses provided and telephone interviews with festival sponsors, the blues festival cost $2,275.50 to produce. Revenue from all sources was estimated at $3,115.
Even if Stacy had to fork over $90 in bounced check and bank charges from the festival account, as he said, the HIV task force should have received at least $750.
``Nothing that was done here was deliberate,'' Stacy said when asked about those figures Tuesday. ``I don't know if I messed up on my calculations or what. I didn't keep proper records or know what each individual paid when they came in.
``Now, it looks like there might be a check going to the HIV task force.''
Kitty Hawk musician Monte Hooker also expressed dismay that the non-profit task force never received any money. Hooker's four-piece band played for free at the music festival. He and a fellow musician also donated sound equipment for the event.
And he personally monitored the sound system for all three bands all day, setting up at 10 a.m. and breaking down about 8 p.m.
``It tweaks me that the money from the fruits of all our labors didn't go where it was supposed to,'' said Hooker, who has helped at the festival for the past three years. ``Something like that is supposed to work out good for everyone. The only thing I got out of it was a T-shirt. And he didn't even give all the guys in the band one of those.''
Whalebone Surf Shop owner April Vaughn said she didn't get a T-shirt either - although her store wrote Stacy a $350 check for the festival. ``I felt personally drawn to this fund-raiser because I had a brother who died of AIDS,'' Vaughn said Wednesday. ``I knew there were going to be some substantial costs associated with putting this festival on. But I certainly thought at least half of what we gave would go back to the HIV task force.
``It really hurts,'' Vaughn said. ``This is bad news.''
Cash sponsorships of the festival ranged from $150 to $350, with a total of $1,870 contributed. Business owners also donated poster printing, trailers for the stage and sodas. Da Kine Hawaiian Kitchen donated half of the food, Stacy said. Island Taxi gave folks free transportation to and from the event. Two of the festival's three bands played for free. The other group was reimbursed for transportation charges. Four radio stations broadcast from the event for a total cost of $185. Even the portajohn and tent rental companies gave Stacy a 50 percent reduction on their bills.
Other shop owners donated merchandise: a surfboard, health club membership and beach cruiser bicycle. Last year, Stacy said he raised more than $400 by auctioning off the donated items. This year, he gave them all away as door prizes.
``We thought we'd get more people to come by giving these items away,'' said Stacy. ``I could've auctioned things this year and done well with it. But I just didn't feel like dealing with that. I got slacker with it this year. I just didn't have the energy for it.''
Tropix owner Michael Price, who made and donated the surfboard, said it was worth $300. ``I'm kind of bummed out,'' Price said. ``I gave that to help someone. Not to just give it away.''
People who worked at and attended the festival estimated the crowd had between 75 and 200 people throughout the day. Stacy said he sold 67 tickets, which would produce $1,005 in income if he'd sold each one for $15. Some, he said, were sold cheaper - although he said he did not know how many were sold for reduced rates.
Stacy also said he still owes $450 in advertising for radio station Rock 102.5. Station spokesmen, however, said the only outstanding bill they have for Stacy is from Avant-Garde advertising. ``We gave him $2,000 worth of free ads for the festival. He owes other money for an ad that never ran which was supposed to be for Avant-Garde,'' Rock 102.5 advertising sales representative Rosalind Shields said. ``That had nothing to do with the festival. It was solely advertising for his salon.''
In December, Stacy sold his shares in Avant-Garde hair salon to his former partner. Stacy said he plans to open his own Outer Banks shop soon. The current owner of Avant-Garde said she had nothing to do with the 1995 blues festival fund-raiser.
``I wanted to give a big check to the task force this year,'' Stacy said. ``But we didn't have a whole lot of luck on our side. There was a 70 percent chance of rain. It turned out to be nice, but cold. But I think people were afraid to come. The weather can make a big impact on events like this.
``The best thing I can do is hold my head up,'' said Stacy. ``This isn't over until the fat lady sings. I just have to try to learn a lesson from this and keep a good karma about it.
``I don't have anything to hide.'' by CNB