MEARFEST MUMBLINGS

THANK YOU TO JASE FOX

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MOLLY IN WHITBY

18/7/2019

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Stewart Allen with Molly in Sunny Whitby
(Dracula's coffin just out of shot)

THANK YOU STEWART

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WITH CHAS KAPPES

WE THANK YOU SO MUCH

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CRAIG MAC FROM

THE CLAN

WE THANK YOU

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MOLLY ON STAGE WITH GanG AT SOS FESTIVAL

14/7/2019

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It is just so heart warming to see three band members of GANG
all wearing Molly on stage.

THANK YOU

Bill Gang, David Gang and Malo Gang.

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THANK YOU

JACK AND MARK MYLCHREEST

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WEARING MOLLY WITH PRIDE -AT PRIDE!

6/7/2019

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MEARFEST SUPPORTING LGBT

EDITOR ROBERT GROVES

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MEARFEST WISHES JIM MILLER A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

3/7/2019

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This is my good friend Jim Miller
We have been friends for well over 30 years
We both went to Boys Brigade as kids, then grew up together loving the sounds of Heavy Metal Music.
We both joined the Ambulance Service.
We have been to countless gigs together.
We have drunk beer, laughed together and on a few occasions we have cried together
We have both been through a hell of a lot together and now Jim and his lovely girlfriend Ruth Moore tirelessly help us both run Mearfest for that whole weekend, selling t-shirts and merchandise and sorting out all the donations in cash, and prizes. They are both trusted loyal friends.
Jim is one of a handful of true friends I have in my life and I want to wish him
A VERY VERY HAPPY HEALTHY ABUNDANT CRAZY BIRTHDAY!!!!

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BE THE LEGEND!

2/7/2019

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OUR BEST MOMENTS WITH THE BEST PEOPLE

MORE TO COME.............

BE THE LEGEND!

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MOLLY AND PAULA

1/7/2019

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PAULA EVANS WE LOVE YOU

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MOLLY ONSTAGE IN BRISBANE WITH GIRLSCHOOL

1/7/2019

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Molly down under

Tracey Lamb of GIRLSCHOOL
Live in Brisbane AUSTRALIA

Thank you
Metal Roos!

Keep the pictures coming folks!

PHOTO MICHAEL GEE

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SATAN'S EMPIRE FEATURING BILL GANG AT MEARFEST 2018

1/7/2019

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WE HAVE RAISED THE ROOF AND £3000 FOR dsne!

1/7/2019

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MOLLY IN POLAND

28/6/2019

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THANK YOU SO MUCH
DEREK & CAROL LYON

IN KRAKOW SALT MINES

FROM THE MIGHTY
SATAN'S EMPIRE

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MOLLY'S MEADOW

28/6/2019

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Molly's Meadow

The sun beats down
The meadow dances
In the late summer heat
The hum of social insects
The air pulsates
Hums with the beat
Of a thousand wings
Nectar is plundered
Creating
Ambrosia
And in the cool depths of the hive
The waggle dance commences
Announcing
The golden food of Gods

Words by Brian Mear

Art by the very talented Stewart Allen

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MERCI BEAUCOUP. MUCHAS GRACIAS. आपका बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद. много вам хвала. Ευχαριστώ πολύ. THANK YOU.

26/6/2019

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We both wish to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Mearfest at Farnham Royal Village hall. Starting with the delightful Marie Edwards, Karen Barker, Aiden Tierney, Ultan Tierney, Pete Hood, Keith Adams, Peter Adams, Barrie Dorling, Linda Dorling. You guys made this all happen, setting us up, keeping the bar stocked, keeping the cake and tea in full flow, cleaning, clearing away, answering stupid questions, sorting out tricky situations, and we must mention your total honesty and generosity with donations made at the bar.
A total of £850.00 including tea and cake, which no other venue has ever offered nor matched.

Next a big thank you to John Thomas Bell our Lord of light and sound, along with Abi Martin from Chapel Bell studios for all your incredible technical expertise, it was an audio delight of pure perfection, your combined dedication and tireless hard work was certainly noted by everyone of us.

Denial of Humanity DOH, for loaning us your 4 by 12 guitar cabinets for the whole weekend, and for being brave to be first on stage to kick the weekend off, hats off to you fellas.

Dave from Saffron Studios High Wycombe for your search and magical finds of very urgent Thunderstick drum stuff! Phew we did it.

Andy Wallis for all the VIP backstage passes, Graham Orion Pax for your legendary posters.

A massive thank you to the divine Martyn Turner who took excellent photos as ever. To the mighty John Lambton who travelled from Newcastle to take photos and roadie, Nicky, and Mike Richardson from Rebel Crow for all your amazing photographs and we hope film to come, and Nick Grimley for capturing special moments on disc.

Robin Brancher for the original 40th anniversary t-shirt design and how could we not mention Martin Walkyier-Maia for printing them so perfectly and on time.

ABI MONDAY AFTERNOON AFTER FINAL CLEAN UP

BUY ME !

LIFE SAVERS

John Bellinger was everything over the weekend, set decorator babysitter between our official babysitters, tea maker, bunting and lanyard provider, t-shirt seller, clearer upper on both days and on Monday morning we salute you good Sir, and Carl Burridge for your support and kindness in many areas.

Daniel Boon our man on the door, thank you for the amazing family canvas. T-shirts and auction raffles hosted by the delectable Ruth Moore and divine Jim Miller, and Gareth Memory for your hard-selling organisation and honesty.

Ian Warner and Richard Johnson for our efficient Mearfest south security.
(And to Mrs. Danielle Johnson for your donation. Keeping it sweet!)

THANK YOU TO ALL THE BANDS

DOH, GANG, QUARTZ, THE CLAN, VICTORIUS EMPIRE, WEAPON UK, CULLODEN, AIRFORCE, BLACKMAYNE, MANDORA, CHEMIKILL, SNATCHBACK, THE DEAD CAN WAIT, RAMPANT, MALLEUS, AND THE MIGHTY THUNDERSTICK.

A SUPERSTAR thank you to the one and only Steve Grimmett from The Grim Reaper and his lovely wife Amelia who spent the whole day with us on Sunday (we love anyone who stays to the end) but who also made a few guys from Newcastle very happy, he sang ‘See You In Hell’ live. It was truly amazing, dream big people, it can come true.

Weapon UK’s Danny Haynes and Jeff Summers for months of promotions on our behalf, for answering all the online Mearfest questions, when we were too busy elsewhere, and for bringing Pippi.

Bill and Agnes and the whole of the Gang, for coming all the way from France, you know what you did for us, for which we thank you.

Nick Grimley, again…. for his fine legendary Mearfest ales, which now have their very own Mearfest page.

RAFFLE-AUCTION & DONATIONS

Firstly, THANK YOU to Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath for his kind donation of his book, personally signed for our auction. And to Tim Perry Quartz, for his extensive collection of Black Sabbath donations which made quite a bit of money for us guys.

Dave Bonney, for being there both days and to Diamond Head and Karl Wilcox for all your merchandise donations, and support in wearing our t-shirt in front of a million people in France!

Thunderstick for signing their great poster.
Andro Coulton from Malleus for his bass guitar.
Montreux who donated a wonderful amplifier.
Blackmayne’s Phil McDermot for his guitar.
Troyen’s Jeff Baddley for all your merchandise and constant support.
Paul Chatfield and Desolation Angels for all your merchandise.
Mick Atkin from SYZ who donated singles one of which sold for £70.00!
Andy D’urso and all at Traitors Gate for your kind donations.
Cameron Vegas from Metal Mirror.
Marek Chudzikowski for donating Dave Mustaine signed book for the auction…£££££

Adam Mear, Charlotte Hazell, Simon Meer and Charlie for selling our legendary raffle tickets.

Dibs Hawkwinder and Sam Kirwan our patrons, for being there for us always, and for bringing the most amazing BOOZY BRANDY CAKE, which we are not sure if this made any money as it was demolished in seconds. But wins first prize for being the team building pick me up slice of the day…

Nick and Nikki Patterson for all your medical assistance and extra help kindness and very generous donation, which helped us buy a much-needed new printer scanner copier and stationery.

Karon and Mick Hanley for your kindness and amazing collection of unicorns for Amélie but also for your donation of £97.00 from the staff of Kilburn nursing home.

Paul Binyon’s donation from all of his work colleagues at EC Outsourcing in Bouldon Newcastle of £70.00

Chris Tinkham for your amazing Mearfest cake creation to his partner Joan Howard for donating a fantastic keyboard. Joanna Watson who brought a ton of home-made cakes, delicious! And for everyone who hand baked or bought cakes we raised £250.00. (…as part of the bar donations)

Bo Bennett for your very special Molly rock.

The legendary ‘Patrick’ and Ronnie who yet again travelled all the way from Belgium to be with us, along with Talea Boelsems who came from Hamburg bringing Amélie an angelic keepsake which is now in her special box of treasures.

John Dunn for expert T-shirt deliveroo.
Rob Byrne from Montreux who just came by to help out where they could.

Rob Grain and Joanne Purkis from Thunderstick for your help in setting up the stage Sunday.

BABY DUTIES

Angela Holland and Carol Lyon for the biggest job of all, looking after Amélie Mear age two. She just loved the nursery green room at the back of the village hall, especially all the hundreds of new toys that did not belong to her. Everyone there was so good with her, and thank you for all her gifts. It was also her first time live on stage, where she tried to grab the mic a hundred times.

FUTURE PLANS

We hope we have not missed anyone out, we can add later if we have. But after all this we are so proud of this event. The vibes were infectious. We raised £3,000 profit to give to Down Syndrome North East. Which is now a grand total of £9,000 in just TWO YEARS!!!

We announced at the time, that as of now Brian and I are in the slow process of setting up our own charity, based in Norfolk where we now live. It was Amélies health visitor who suggested the absolute obvious to me! It seems we have moved to a county with no real baby loss bereavement safety net, for parents who have had to go through a stillbirth or miscarriage. We are in talks with various agencies about this and will announce our plans at a later date.

We are in the process of setting up a new bank account, then looking to raise £5,000 to become a registered charity with an official number.

So folks....until October 20th where MEARFEST NORTH will be in Newcastle once again, it's been a great experience for us both. We thank you all for everything each one of you has contributed.

Brian, Claire Amélie and Molly Mear.

FINAL SPOOKY NOTE

Oddly, all day I used my perfect little camera, it had been cleaned and checked prior, most of the photos had a glow about them, with some crazy light orbs, even though I was outside and inside the hall, no flash used, day and evening light.
Shortly after we had all left for the night, a mysterious vision was captured by the village halls CCTV. Light orbs literally dancing around the hall. One big light orb is prominent, it comes right up to the stage turns left and comes back. At this time there were no cars parked in the car park, stage right has a small parking area away from any main roads, it was dark and empty. No security lights were left on. Brian remembers that they had all left the building and car park about 2am. These photos were 13 and 16 minutes after. A video is on its way and will be added later.

Molly and her spirit baby friends carried on the party after we had all gone home to bed.

It looks like we really did set the spirits free.

The village hall was built in 1921 and under the stage are pegs where soldiers hung their guns, lots of strange things happen all the time here. The CCTV footage from the previous nights had no activity on them at all, the camera only picks up movement, there is a ton of movement here tonight. This is not dust..... I like to believe my baby is dancing in there somewhere.

Hand glow?

SEE YOU ALL 20TH OCTOBER
IN NEWCASTLE !

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BE A VOICE

26/6/2019

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Be a voice
For those denied
Be a voice
For us who cried
Be a voice
It's all we ask
Be a voice
A simple task
Be a voice
For those stillborn
Be a voice
For those that mourn
Be a voice
and make it loud
Be a voice
and make us proud
Be a voice
For those held dear
Be a voice
for Molly Mear

Born still but Still Born
by Brian Mear

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MEARFEST HAS NEW TOP FAN (BADGE GOES TO....)

24/6/2019

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SUE TIMMINS WHO CAME TO VISIT US IN NORFOLK!

THANK YOU

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MOLLY IN ATHENS GREECE

24/6/2019

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se efcharistó VASILIS PETRIDIS

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MOLLY ON STAGE IN PARIS

24/6/2019

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MOLLY IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE IN THIS WORLD....

23/6/2019

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ARE YOU GOING TO A FESTIVAL THIS SUMMER?

ARE YOU GOING TO SOMEWHERE ENCHANTING OR A ZEN RETREAT FOR YOUR HOLIDAYS?

ARE YOU VISITING SACRED SITES IN DISTANT FORGOTTEN LANDS?

ARE YOU GOING ON ANY PEACE MARCHES OR VOLUNTEERING?

VISITING ANY DIGNITARIES, ROYALTY IN ANY FIELD-ROCK-POP-METAL-NEW WAVE-ELECTRO-PUNK, THOSE BLUE BLOODERS IN THE PALACES, WILL YOU BE HANGING OUT WITH ANY TRUE LIVING LEGENDS OF MUSIC OR FILM OR ART OR LITERATURE OR RADIO OR tv?

ARE YOU SPENDING PRECIOUS SPECIAL TIME WITH LOVED ONES, FAMILY, KIDS, GRANDPARENTS, PETS?

PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR MOLLY T-SHIRT AND SEND US YOUR PHOTOS....WE JUST LOVE THEM ALL!
SHE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!
WE HAVE HEARD INCREDIBLE STORIES OF HER TRAVELS SO FAR.

HAPPY TRAVELS WORLD.

HER FORCE IS WITH YOU ALL

TURNING LOSS INTO LEGACY.

MOLLY T-SHIRT HERE

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MOLLY CENTER STAGE AT HELLFEST IN FRANCE WITH DIAMOND HEAD!!!

23/6/2019

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LIKE, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THERE!

A HUGE MASSIVE GOBSMACKING THANK YOU
KARL WILCOX
&
DAVE BONNEY

WE LOVE YOU

YOU ARE SUCH BRIGHT STARS

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THUNDERSTICK

20/6/2019

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And finally we have the closing band of the entire weekend..........

Thunderstick-2019

Well I guess you really had to be there.

To fully celebrate 40 years of New Wave of British Heavy Metal, we were honoured to have the face of the NWOBHM himself Thunderstick Mr. Barry Graham Purkis. The ex Iron Maiden/Samson drummer who is such an iconic figure. Many people had bought tickets well in advance and travelled far and wide to witness the new line up: Raven Blackwing, Rex Thunderbolt , Mike Gibbons, Lee Quenby and the main man himself Thunderstick, who sat at the back, buried within the most impressive drum kit Mearfest stage crew had ever had to assemble during the longest time given between bands just to prepare the stage.

As the SAMSON classic 'Riding with the Angels' opened the set, the air was full of excitement as their brand new female lead singer had recently been revealed as Raven Blackwing. Raven was a complete revelation, owning the stage with true unadulterated passion, confidence and charisma, with many costume changes between each song. In steps Joanne Purkis as chief dresser, busy in the wings behind her cloth and metal dressing screen, where she ruffled feathers, threw around yards of black lace, hooked up beaten leather, hoisted tight boned corsets, rhinestone facemasks and belts, belts, and more belts. Just imagine the time logistics for a minute here? But miraculously, everything started and finished on time, and what a mighty powerful voice in between. The stage set became pure rock and roll visual theatre. Props had purpose, a coffin, suspended dollies, a blacked-out mask and stake for me to be tied to a post during 'Blackwing' which was a moving story all about rebirth and enlightenment, they had really done us at Mearfest proud. All in all, there were more props and costume changes than Alice Cooper could ever have dreamt of, along with moving and descriptive story telling via the enchantingly sung word.

Each band member was not only creatively unique within their own right, but true professional show people. Rex was a wonderful charismatic bass player, Lee and Mike are both superb animated guitarists, which added so much to the bands glorious sound and visionary experience. Thunderstick himself was simply mind blowing to witness, as I knew he would be. His legendary rhinestone face mask was first created in 1979, this went against the normal facelessness of a drummer, no one sees them anyway so why not make something of it. Yes, he was sat behind his band, surrounded by drums and high cymbals, but his presence was notably eminent. One of the best most thunderous drummers around today.

Thunderstick the band is a formidable machine. The overall effect produced something wondrous, which if I am honest, not witnessed as much now a days as it should be. It was pure entertainment and that ladies and Gentlemen, is what a live rock performance is all about. Rob Grain and Joanne Purkis work tirelessly on and off the stage, creating 180 degrees of perfection, if something went wrong it was seamlessly fixed.

There was a lot at stake here and I am not just talking about myself in a mask! Everything ran like clockwork, it had been so well thought out and rehearsed. The show, and let us be honest here, that this was a real end of show SHOW was magnifique. We couldn't have wished for a more fitting band to put the cherry on our special anniversary Great British festival.
1979 Revisited was exactly that.

As the classic 'Vice, Versa' is brought back to life decades later.
Now resplendent in its new radiant clothing, sparkling with new life.
Thunderstick had done something quite remarkable here.
As the final track from the Rocky Horror show 'time warp' came to a close, the stage was invaded by the village hall staff who had worked tirelessly for two very long days. Blessings go to Marie Edwards and Karen Barker and her team, who said we could let as many party poppers off as we liked, and not to worry about the mess on the floor, I think we found a disappointing handful in time for the finale.

The hall was filled with raised arms, clapping, cheering, finger horns and lit phones filming every last moment for future retrospection, the joyous shouts of " More, More! More! was the rebel yell of the weekend. Beyond all their multifarious creative talents was the hand of Molly, who we both felt was watching from the heavens in complete wonder.

We as a collective had set the spirit free by turning all our losses into legacy, that truly lives on within each one involved.

the band are currently looking for management representation, if you feel you can help contact thunderstickdrums@yahoo.co.uk.Bx

The real finale end of show SHOW.........

Quotes post show.......

It has been a long struggle...Thunderstick after playing Hard Rock Hell last November were once again left in tatters after an ongoing rift had come to it's natural conclusion a parting of the ways leaving Myself Rex and Lee with the daunting task of finding musicians to fill the vacancies. A long search ensued.The replacement guitarist in Mike Gibbons came about quite quickly but the search for a girl singer took much longer with a lot of potentials being seen. Until through a mutual friend I contacted Raven. Possibly the best vocalist this band has had since the '80's we were once more whole.
Now Why am I telling you all of this? because MEARFEST gave us something to aim at. Something that made us work hard in rehearsal knowing that we would be appearing with many other professional bands that already had a full amount of appearances under their belts. We needed our very first gig to be one that was well run, friendly,easy going and understanding of the first night nerves the band would be experiencing. Mearfest delivered in all areas.
A backstage area that had a really relaxed feel to it allowing all of us to either 'catch up' with fellow musicians that had not been together for years as well as making new friends. Both Brian and Claire were both quick to act on any last minute requests from bands prior to their appearance assisted by a crew of only too willing helpers. This is the way to run a festival. There are many organisers out there that could more than take a leaf out of the MEARFEST book that's for sure. No 'cattle market' on.. play... off...vacate mentality here.Just a quiet determination by all to make the event just that an EVENT. Each band that played was made to feel just as important as the next no matter where you were on the bill.
So to conclude, I would just like to say if your band is approached by either Brian or Claire to asking if you would be interested in playing MEARFEST...bite their hands off for the opportunity because the way it is going each year there will come a time when you will just have to join the queue no matter how well known you are.
This will be the festival to play if you want to elevate your status. Not only that you get to feel good about yourselves for supporting such an important cause something that will stay with you long after the ringing in your ears has stopped. Brian/Claire we love you....Raven,Mike.Lee Rex and B THUNDERSTICK.

Rex Thinderbolt What can I say Brian and Claire?
For the last two and a half years we have talked about bringing the band to mearfest.
We are honoured to have been able to bring the SHOW lol to perform beneath mollys handprint.
To start the next and biggest leg of this journey with Thunderstick at a festival such as yours with so many like minded musicians, is a real privilege and to be considered a part of the mearfest family is a huge thing for all of us.
You guys run this festival with heart rarely seen in this business, where the bottom line is the only thing that matters. You have laid everything on the line time and time again, and you both deserve honour and huge amounts of respect.
We all certainly look forward to working alongside you both again in the future.
🤘🤘⚡️⚡️🤘🤘

Paul Lewis Satan's Empire....
A brilliant end to a wonderful festival. Thunderstick were off the scale and this lineup will go very far. So proud to be part of the Mearfest family and to have taken part too. All the bands and everyone involved with the event were nothing short of awesome. ❤❤❤

Hastings 2017

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DOWN SYNDROME NORTH EAST the story so far.

19/6/2019

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In 2017 while I was 23 weeks pregnant with Amélie, we found ourselves hosting mearfest north in Trillians Newcastle. The reason we did this was there were so many good bands up there and we wanted them to be part of what we do, so we took our show to them.
Along that same journey we came across Down Syndrome North East, as Molly Mear our first born, would have been a T21 Downs baby, so we only thought it right to donate to them. We would have been involved in many groups and centres had she lived. So this is all for Molly.

We take pride in donating funds to help with all things arts and music. Here is a film funded by you all.
THANK YOU from everyone at DSNE.