Band, Bar, Volunteers Hold Fundraiser for Family's Medical Needs

Lakes High School community members are banding together tonight to show their support for a family that has contributed much to others and is now facing a medical struggle.

Linda Hill and her husband, Dino Hill, are known for their involvement in the area, including at Lakes, where Dino used to coach girls’ soccer.

So when Linda Hill was diagnosed with cancer in December, people wanted to help.

Joe Keller is the Lakes High School athletic director by day, and a rock ‘n’ roll musician by night.

“When I was teaching here, Dino Hill was coaching and they have always been avid supporters of and the athletics program,” said Keller, noting that Linda and her whole family have gone through the Lakes High School system and have supported other families and students. “Linda was diagnosed with cancer late last year and it spread quickly, so some people in the community approached me about doing a benefit.”

Keller’s group, the Chicken Joe Band, is usually a five-piece electric rock band. “But for this event we’ll be a three-piece acoustic group called ‘Rewired,’” he said. “We play danceable rock from the ‘70s on up to current stuff, all covers. I’ve been playing music for 29 years, and some of the other members have been playing, four, 10 and 16 years.”

Playing tonight will be Keller on rhythm guitar, percussion and vocals; Tim Silke, rhythm and lead guitar and keyboards; and a rotating bass player—for this event, Dave Dickerson.

“We’re volunteering our time to play the benefit because we want to. There’s also been an account set up at US Bank where people can donate money to the Linda Hill fund from any US Bank location. The Lakes community is tight-knit; everyone knows each other, and that’s interesting because it’s a military base school. But word of mouth really got this thing going.”

Jeri Schueler, secretary of Mann Middle School, helped plan most of the event.

“We’re personal friends of Dino and Linda’s and we coached soccer together," she said. "When she was initially diagnosed on Dec. 14, I thought, ‘What can I do?’ Then I thought that the has had a few benefits for people who’ve had cancer so I thought we could do one. I thought of Joe’s band and contacted (Fan Club owners Lisa and Don) Daniels and all of a sudden, people started coming out of the woodwork. The community response has been overwhelming.

“(The Hills) always helped kids in the community, buying equipment, feeding kids on teams, and we wanted to do something for Dino’s family.”

In addition to rocking tunes by Rewired, the benefit will also have a silent auction and raffle prizes.

“We’re got tons of items, including various golf gift certificates, many different baskets from a wine basket to a Disney princess basket, massage basket, a photo shoot from a professional photographer, hand-blown glass and more,” Schueler said. “For the raffle, we have smaller items like a movie and candy basket and T-shirts.”

Schueler praised the Daniels’ efforts in putting on the event.

“They’ve been phenomenal, putting tablecloths on tables early, getting out fliers and have been just wonderful,” she said. “Others who have helped out with planning the event are Shawn and Jim Munsey, Donna Waters and Mike Stafford. We had a committee of 10-15 people. We’ve been meeting once a week since December trying to plan this.”

Organizers don’t have a set goal for how much they’d like to raise for the Hill family, but they want to offset the family’s medical costs as much as possible. "The Hills are self-employed and they’ll have to pay 20 percent of their medical bills as a result. Linda has had six rounds of chemo so far, and we’re trying to do what we can to help the family in any way," Schueler said.

IF YOU GO

When: 8 p.m.-midnight, Saturday, March 5

Where: , 8315 83rd Ave. S.W., Lakewood

Cost: No cover, but donations for the Hill family accepted.

More information: Fan Club, 253-984-8000