The LRLR Raise Funds for Behind the Scenes at USITT Raffle

The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes (BTS) during the USITT Stage Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida earlier this month. Sales of raffle tickets, auction items, key donations, and sales of BTS and LRLR-branded swag raised over $15,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2018 ride, dubbed the "Gap and Notch Tour: A Ramble through New England," starts on June 23rd in Manchester, New Hampshire. The riders cover all their own expenses so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at the URL below.

Festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTS Pledge-a-Product partners InCord (Orchestra Pit Safety Netting Systems) and ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices) presented checks from the sales of their products pledged to BTS.

Live auction items included two hand-tooled custom bottle openers created by Shan and Trish Ayers and a special pack of Amberient's industry trading cards which included a signed Fred Foster Rookie card. As soon as the show opened, Amberient started getting offers to buy the wonderful stools in their booth that were made from old ellipsoidals. Scott Wasserberg decided he would donate them to BTS for the live auction and they raised over $600 in heated bidding.

Just a few minutes before the raffle started, Bill Sapsis announced he would donate up to $1,000 to match the amount raised in last minute ticket sales. Reid Neslage from H&H Specialties said he would match that number. There was a flurry of activity as the crowd bought their tickets. When it was announced we were a little short, Robert Haycock stepped forward to contribute the balance that would make Sapsis and Neslage pay out the full amount.

continued The winners and their prizes are:
* Grand prize, Vectorworks Spotlight with Renderworks won by Andrew Rudolph
* BTS Ghostlight from Altman Rentals won by Karl Hoffman
* $250 American Express gift card from Barbizon won by Chaz Malott
* Tools for Success Kit from BMI Supply won by Cliff Leighton
* Event Safety Summit 2018 registration from Event Safety Alliance won by Bruce Warner
* Stagehands Go Bag from 4Wall won by Randy Riggs
* DMXcat Multi Function Test Tool from Musson Theatrical won by David Winnick
* $250 gift certificate from Sapsis Rigging won by Roger Bardwell
* Record and Print Social Package from Stage Equipment & Lighting won by Matt DeLong
* USITT 2019 Full Conference registration from USITT won by Bryan Ackler

Special thanks go to USITT for making our presence at the show possible; to Moe Conn, Kim Craigie, Mark and Alison Heiser, Alice Neff, and Bill Sapsis, for their invaluable help; to the donors of our fabulous prizes; and to all who bought raffle tickets, auction items, and swag.

All proceeds go to the Behind the Scenes charity which assists entertainment technology industry professionals or their immediate family members who are ill or injured. For more information about Behind the Scenes, to donate, or to apply for a grant, visit www.behindthescenescharity.org. For more information about the Long Reach Long Riders visit www.lrlr.org.