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ELKINS -- The Davis Health System Foundation is preparing to offer its ninth annual Bluegrass Festival benefit at the Harper-McNeeley Auditorium at Davis & Elkins College at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Hillbilly Gypsies and Nothin' Fancy will both headline the Bluegrass Festival, providing the audience with traditional bluegrass music from renowned bands.
The returning crowd favorite, Nothin' Fancy, based out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, has released 11 full-length albums since their formation in 1994.
Band members Mike Andes, Mitchell Davis, Chris Sexton, Tony Shorter and Caleb Cox continue to delight audience members of the annual Bluegrass Festival with their stirring performances, smooth vocal blends and irrepressible humor.
The Bluegrass Festival is also adding a new local talent this year with the band the Hillbilly Gypsies, known for their old-fashioned style, high-energy live performances, vocal harmonies and musical arrangements mixed with natural comedic wit. The West Virginia band was formed in 2001, performing local, national and international shows with current members Trae Buckner, Jamie Lynn Buckner, Ben Townsend, Levi Houston Sanders and Ryan Cramer.
Tickets are priced at $20 for reserved seats and $50 for the VIP Package, which includes preferred seating and a meet-and-greet reception with band members.
Tickets are available for purchase by calling 304-630-3043 or by visiting www.dhsfoundation.org, tickets will also be available the day of the concert at the door.
The concert is expected to be about two hours long, with both of the bands performing a full set with an intermission during which attendants can purchase band CDs and merchandise.
The Davis Health System Foundation created the annual benefit concert to appeal to the local culture while introducing the public to the Foundation and everything it has to offer to the community.
Mike Bell, director of the Davis Health System Foundation, explained the Bluegrass Festival has turned into a family reunion, with returning community members reserving their seats in early January each year.
This will be the first Bluegrass Festival offered at Davis & Elkins College.
Last year, the Bluegrass Festival raised $11,000 to go toward the projects of the Davis Health Foundation, helping the organization give back and provide the best quality care to their patients.
This year the proceeds raised from the benefit concert will go towards Transforming Care TogethER campaign to the expansion and upgrade of the Emergency Department at Davis Medical Center.
The expansion and upgrade will provide the patients with more privacy, decrease patients' waiting time and allow the staff to provide the best quality care with new updated equipment.
A total of 24 private patient exam and treatment rooms will be installed, along with two critical care and trauma bays, state of the art medical technologies and equipment, shorter wait times through FasTrack and a new comfortable waiting area and meditation room.
Since the beginning of the project, the community has helped raise $1.4 million of the $2 million goal for the Emergency Department.
The Foundation also offers two other annual fundraisers each year, including the 11th annual DHS Foundation Golf Classic scheduled for Aug. 4 at Stonewall Resort and the second annual Broaddus Billionaires Club scheduled for Sept. 29 at the Adaland Mansion in Philippi.
The foundation has given back to the community in a number of ways, including the Davis House, which provides a homelike lodging for cancer patients receiving care, taking some of the financial burden of traveling and stress off the patients. The Davis House also helps fund some of the prescription medication, equipment and other expenses that are not covered by insurance to provide affordable care to everyone.
"First, we would like to say thank you to the community," Bell stated, "Three million dollars has been given back in support of different services because of the community's support."
The Davis Health System serves the surrounding counties of Randolph, Barbour, Tucker, Upshur and Pocahontas.