FAB Fundraiser Goes Irish Green, Hopes to Raise $41K

The (FAB) is looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow this week, and might be that spot Thursday at .

More than $41,000 is needed for new musical instruments, instrument repair and other equipment. A K-12 wish list is also being developed for the visual arts program.

Paula Cardelli is chairing Taste of Music for her third time at FHS. With the event’s proximity to March, it will be decked out in Irish this year — an idea she thought would be especially effective.

“I chose the Irish theme as a way to broaden the genre presented,” Cardelli said. “We have several students and teachers that perform in Irish dance groups, and the date was close to St. Patrick's Day.”

Area restaurants, along with their signature dishes, delighted past Taste of Music guests. Organizers are hoping that this year’s event will dance along those same successful steps.

Connie Jacobs, past FAB president and a founding member, remains active in the group despite the graduation of her own two daughters from FHS in 2003 and 2006.

“I stay involved because music and the arts are so important to the Ferndale students,” Jacobs said. “There are a number of FAB members, like myself, without students in the district.”

The FAB is a community organization, not just a parent organization, she said. 

Taste of Music III offers an evening of delectable goodies, student performances and a silent auction of artistic goods. The centerpiece of the evening is Irish folk dancing, presented by the FHS alumni group, The Leim Irish Dancers and The Ardan Academy of Irish Dance.

Musical groups Bill Grogan’s Goat and Seacht round out the remainder of Ferndale’s trip to the Emerald Isles.

Event sponsors will showcase culinary skills, introducing attendees to the community’s foods and tastes. More than two dozen restaurants have provided a gamut of delicacies, from tempting desserts and (nonalcoholic) drinks to bites of meat or seafood and everything in between.

So far, the events have raised about $175,000 in cash and in-kind donations, matched by the Ferndale School District Matching Funds, says Cardelli.

“The first Taste of Music was a gala, with small groups playing and singing and displays from each music area, (followed by) a video on the various K-12 concerts, with presentations on the various needs,” Cardelli said.

“The second event was Taste of Music II: Rhapsody in Blue, which was tied into the FHS Band Concert and featured (FHS alumni) Scott Schroeder as the pianist,” she said.

Support of the music program in Ferndale has had extensive and recurring results. has placed first in its flight for six of the past seven years, including 2010. Numerous secondary students have been chosen for state honors band, choirs and orchestras and have consistently received superior scores for additional competitive performances.

Visual art students have also garnered Scholastic Art Awards.

Although it is too early to know whether Taste of Music III attendance will be bested this year, Cardelli said advanced sales are occurring through sponsors and general admission. Tickets may also be bought online at the boutique in downtown Ferndale, the and FHS's main office.

Tickets cost $35 per sponsor guest, $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for students; children younger than five are. Cash, check and credit card payments will be accepted Thursday evening.

Admission includes a goody bag, access to the silent auction in the FHS Commons, food in the media center and all performances in the auditorium. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the program beginning at 7 p.m. 

English-born Stephen Goodfellow, an Ann Arbor resident, donated a painting for the silent auction. He’s renowned for artwork for organizations, businesses and individuals and said he “invented and paints in the primary Micropointillist and Macropointillist medium and has adapted that color technique for the electronic primary radiative realm.”

FHS alumnus Cooper Holoweski, Class of ’99, is a featured print artist in the auction, which also offers stained glass pieces, photographs, jewelry and more.

Jacobs is as excited about the auction as the dancing and other performances.

“There will be some very nice pieces that I know I’ll be bidding on,” she said. “The most important thing, however, is how the event benefits the students of Ferndale. The kids are what really count.”

For more information, go to fsfab.org.

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