Summer project results in Cairo festival

CAIRO, Ill. -- While the adult leadership of Cairo was busy bickering about the balance of power and city finances this summer, a group of 44 youths was working toward a common goal.

They wanted to create something that would bring the people of the city together for fun and celebration.

What they made was a music festival.

Saturday night those young people hosted the Cairo Music Festival at the city's Box Field -- an event featuring eight music and dance performances for a crowd of hundreds.

The festival was a culmination of a summerlong program overseen by Kevin Schraer of the Delta Center -- a substance abuse and mental health treatment facility in Cairo. The program gave the students summer jobs through a grant provided by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Summer Youth Employment Program.

The job was to organize a music festival. Schraer said the suggestion of having the festival came from him, but it was the youths who chose to act on it.

In the days when Cairo was a thriving riverboat town and commercial center, several blues clubs populated the waterfront in the city. Musicians like Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Johnson all had ties to the city.

Jared Stacy, 17, is a walking example of Cairo's musical heritage. His grandfather is a blues keyboardist. Jared plays keyboard, organ, piano and drums, while his brother, Joseph, 21, has perfected the art form of "beat boxing," or mimicking drums and record scratches.

"It's great for the community," Jared said just before the music started to flow Saturday. "We normally don't do big things like this, so this is something exciting."

Local beat box artist Joseph Stacy, right, was a crowd favorite as he performed with backup by Chemistry's Francis "Franchise the Mic Rippa" Williams during Saturday's music festival in Cairo, Ill.

Joseph Stacy's performance created excitement among the crowd of hundreds assembled at Box Field. Some in the audience danced along to the beats.

After his performance Joseph said events like the music festival are important for a community that has seen better days.

"This town, it's not bad because of the people," he said. "But things need to change. If it's going to change, the government is going to have to do something."

The festival drew more people than just the youth who organized the event and their friends. Gary Tillman, director of the Two Rivers Ministry outreach program in Cairo, attended to show his support for the positive work undertaken by the community's youths.

"It's a positive thing that we're able to get together tonight and listen to music and have a good time," Tillman said. "It's a much-needed thing.

"For the most part these are good kids, and we're out here to support them and have a good time with them."

People from outside Cairo also attended, like Sue Doctorman of Ullin, Ill. Doctorman said she's loved the city for years, and events like the music festival help take the negative attention away from the city.

"I just wanted to see people come together and have a good time," she said.

For musician Stace England, who recently recorded and released an album inspired by the city's history, the event showed that Cairo still has a chance at a happy future, despite the bickering among the city's leadership.

"Here's the future of Cairo. These kids have put this together and showed us what they can do," England said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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