April 18, 2018
Page 19
edition
CAREERS special
Concert
with a
Cause
C ontinued froM P age 13
tric. So through Isaac Scott I
learned four songs and my dad
bought me that electric guitar and
I’ve been playing ever since,” Syl-
vester said.
Throughout the years, Syl-
vester has shared the stage with
such well known acts as BB King,
Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Koko
Taylor, Peter Frampton and Mavis
Staples, all while working for a
trucking company on Swan Island
and doing music on the side.
When his employer went belly
up, Sylvester decided to finally
do music full time in 1990. He’s
since won several music awards,
including Cascades Blues Asso-
ciation Best R&B Band for 2015
and 2017, as well as being induct-
ed into the Oregon Music Hall of
Fame in 2011. He played his first
Waterfront Blues Festival in Port-
land in 1987 and has been to al-
most all of them since.
But Sylvester’s job at the truck-
ing company left him with injured
hips and his own medical hard-
KOIN-TV Channel 6 Anchor Ken Boddie will join Portland poet and
author S. Renee Mitchell once again for MC duties at Saturday’s
annual Healing the Healthcare Blues concert benefitting Health
Care for All Oregon, an organization advocating for universal
healthcare.
ships. A series of corrective sur-
geries in the 2000s saddled him
with medical bills larger than his
teamster pension or music income
could feasibly cover.
“I still have a $35,000 debt
hanging over my head on those
surgeries to this day,” he said.
Sylvester started an older ver-
sion of the Inner City Blues Fes-
tival back in 1988 as a fundraiser
for Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presiden-
tial campaign. The concert ran for
12 years and then after a few years
off festival committee members
approached him about revamp-
ing the festival, this time with the
aim of raising awareness and do-
nations for the cause of universal
healthcare.
Having witnessed firsthand the
financial toll and stress health-
care costs can have on families,
Sylvester volunteered to do the
booking and play at the festival
each year ever since. His wife also
volunteers.
The concert supports Health
Care of All Oregon, a non-profit
political organization working to
pass a measure that formally rec-
ognizes healthcare coverage as
a human right in Oregon by the
year 2020. A bill that would do
just that, called the Hope Amend-
ment, recently passed the Oregon
House, but died on the Senate
floor in February.
Last year’s festival brought
700 attendees, and this year, an
impressive list of musicians are
sure to draw folks back, includ-
ing country blues musician Steve
Chesenborough, the King Lou-
ie Pain Quartet and La Rhonda
Steele, delta blues musicians Te-
vis Hodge Jr. and Bill Rhoades,
and many others.
The festival’s community spon-
sors include the Portland Observ-
er, Cascade Blues Association,
Pink Martini, and KBOO Radio,
which will be simulcasting the
event, live on 90.7 FM.
Other concert highlights in-
clude barbecue by Theotis Cason
of Cason’s Fine Meats, as well
as other entrees and desserts, two
bars, a silent auction, raffle priz-
es, and community information
tables.
Tickets can be purchased for
$20 in advanced from Music Mil-
lennium, Geneva’s Shear Perfec-
tion, and other locations, or from
tickettomato.com. Admission is
$25 at the door.
For more information, visit
Facebook.com/healingthehealth-
careblues.
Together, we do good things.
TM
This page is sponsored by Oregon Lottery
R
April 2018
C alendar
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
15
16
17
18
19
Income Tax Day
Artist/Inventor
Leonardo Da Vinci
born, 1452
Garth Williams
born, 1912
Aviator Wilbur
Wright born, 1867
Richard the Li-
on-Hearted
returned to England
(1194)
22
23
24
Earth Day,
established 1970
Girl Scout Leader
Appreciation Day
29
Zipper Day (pat-
ented by Gideon
Sundback in 1913)
Home Run Day
William Shake-
speare born, 1564
30
National Honesty
Day
Anniversary Lou-
isiana Purchase
completed (1803)
Library of Congress
established (1800)
Pigs-in-a-Blanket
Day
Paul Revere’s Fa-
mous Ride (1775)
Pet Owner’s Day
Humorous Day
Revolutionary War
began (1775)
25
26
Admin. Profession-
als/ Secretaries Day
Hubble Telescope
launched, 1990
World Penguin Day
Take your Daughter
to Work Day
Hug a Friend Day
National Pretzel
Day
FRIDAY SATURDAY
20
21
Scientists Marie &
Pierre Curie isolate
radium (1902)
Kindergarten Day
Barbara Park born,
1947
27
28
Arbor Day
Tell a Story Day
James Monroe
born, 1758 (5th
President)