The spirit of country music increases support for cancer

Tyler Redway

THE Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group held a sold-out country music fundraising show, courtesy of a selection of local music legends, at the RSL Bowling Club.

Tickets for the show sold out three weeks after they became available to the public, which former event organizer Kevin Sporer said was a regular occurrence for the annual event.

Mr Sporer, who has been involved in country music for 60 years, hosted the event for 12 years before handing over the reins to current organizer Tracey Allen.

He said it was a pleasure to host the charity fundraiser every year.

“It’s been a pleasure to do it every time and it always attracts a crowd that’s pretty much fully booked every time,” Sporer said.

“Country music has always had a good following and has been around for a hundred years, but it never really fluctuates.

“A lot of other things will go up and down, but country music has never been as high as it is right now.”

Mount Gambier Cancer Support Group treasurer Barb Smith said donations and ticket sales from the event would go towards vouchers, accommodation, travel and food for the organisation’s clients on their journey to fight cancer.

Ms Smith said the event couldn’t happen without the help of the musicians.

“It’s so important because without the help of people like them in the community we wouldn’t be able to support people through their cancer journey,” Ms Smith said.

“We’re just grateful that the Mount Gambier artists and community are supporting us as much as they have been, it’s really great to see.”

Current event organizer Tracey Allen said she felt it was a “huge responsibility” to host the event, but felt it would be worth it to provide cancer support.

“For us, what music does and how it affects people is so good because this event mainly goes to the Cancer Support Group to help not only cancer patients but also their families,” she said.

“It is a very big responsibility to take on and it will be quite nerve-wracking, but for the purpose it serves, you are not looking at your own personal problems, but at the bigger picture.

“If you can raise money for people living with cancer, it helps enormously at a difficult time because it takes away some of the stress.”

Ms Allen said seeing the effect music had on people was itself very rewarding for her personally.

“I just love what music does to bring people together, even in families with dementia. Sometimes they may not recognize their family, but as soon as you start playing a certain song, they start tapping their feet and their faces light up.”