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In yet another in a string of themes chosen in a matter of milliseconds, we’re heading to the Midwest for “that other” benefit concert in 1985 that has the distinction of being the longest running benefit concert series in America.

Many people rightly remember “Live Aid” in July 1985 which was a two-venue star-studded concert staged at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia that raised over $100M for relief in famine stricken areas of Africa.

Two months later, the first “Farm Aid” concert would be staged at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, IL.

There was no shortage of stars that came out to perform an amazing set and raise awareness of the plight of farmers who were losing their family farms to bankruptcy which would seem to be a very familiar situation facing today’s family farmers in the light of global competition and questionable to outright insane trade policies that is being felt hardest by those hard-working families that feed this country and the world.

Yeah, it didn’t take long to pick this theme at all and not just because it’s a worthy cause that is still ongoing with Farm Aid 2026 scheduled for Virginia Beach on Saturday.

More than a few members of my family either were or still are farmers in Illinois and both my mother and father attended the University of Illinois so you can imagine that the connections to the original concert and the cause they support to this day runs very deep. I may never have been a farmer but listening to my grandfather’s stories and wisdom about life on the farm has made me appreciate just how vital they are to the survival and security of our nation. 🙂

Game 1 Warm-Ups

Post-Game

We have a division champion in the Helios division and it is the Oni pulling off the upset against the top-seeded Phoenix!

The Santana track was inspired by one of my favourite comic artists of all time who is best known for his “Strangers in Paradise” series following the adventures of Francine and Katchoo. He hosts a “Studio Sunday” show on YouTube most weeks where you see how he creates his amazing art and that track was featured as the backing music that I was absolutely determined was going to be the parish notices music.

After all, who can resist a collaboration between Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton?

I sure couldn’t!

The irony was that after going through the hassle of identifying the track from the video using an online tool, I found that I already had it in my library! Well, that was easy… 😉