Kyle Stidham Fundraiser
Kyle Stidham Fundraiser to honor a great friend and his legacy to the people he touched.
With four months of me planning this great event the time was upon us. The first people through the doors were the Stidham family. They were really supportive and appreciative to all the hard work I put into this and brought a very large collage of the great life Kyle lived. Without the help of James Graham the website and raffle would have never been possible. We sat up the tables and got everything laid out on the table and awaited the arrival of the masses. Buffalo Wild Wings brought in DJ Lee, local renowned DJ for Red Bull and future DJ of the North Alabama Whitewater Festival (NAWFest.net) DJ Lee was even able to put announcements, raffle winners, beers to drinks, and any other information on the screen to keep people informed on everything that was going on.
Finally, it was time to begin the Alabama premier of Lunch Video Magazine #24 Does a Dog Fart When You Kick It? to kick off the great event. The event was held on November 9th, 2007 at 7:00 pm at Buffalo Wild Wings in Trussville, AL. This event was a special fund raiser for Matthew Kyle Stidham, a 24 year-old kayaker from Hamilton, AL., who we tragically lost to a kayaking accident in New Zealand. When we began the first video there was not a seat in the building. This special fund raiser is an attempt to help his family replenish the approximately 15,000 dollars that it took for his return and burial. Kyle was an inspiration to us all and as a local paddling community and we wanted to honor him and his family. Buffalo Wild Wings was kind enough to donate a dollar on all 25+ drafts and all the money from Sweetwater Hummer and Sweetwater 420 throughout the evening. The energy was incredible with everyone drinking as much as possible and people that were just up there were very supportive of this great cause. In addition we raffled gear from various companies, sponsors, and kayaking affiliates with all proceeds going to the Stidhams. The crowd was fighting over the new Wavesport Promo videos and t-shirts that we tossed out. For added entertainment, we had locally renowned caricaturist/cartoonist, James Hislope, who offered his talent and time to help honor Kyle. James thank you for all your help. He charged $15 for each drawing and donated 80% of his proceeds to Kyle’s family. Mr. Hislope’s portfolio can be viewed online at Myspace.com/JamesHislope. After the LVM premiere we started video number 2. This was a video put together by Kyle’s friends of Kyle growing up in the sport of kayaking and his maturity in life. It was great to see the family smiling and enjoying the life that they had with their son. We did a few more knock back of drinks before we began the premiere in Alabama for the Wavesport promo. People were so excited to see Charlie Mix on video for the first time and he was overwhelmed by the autographs he had to sign. Thanks to Charlie to being a great sport and the brunt of many jokes. I want to give a special thank to all the sponsors that helped with making this great fundraiser possible especially Buffalo Wild Wings for not only sponsoring the event but providing a wonderful venue for us. Later I was told that it was the busiest night in the great sport’s bars history. Thank you to everyone that came out for the great cause and support the person that Kyle was. In the end we raised almost 2,500 for the Stidham family. If you are interested in ordering LVM please go LVMvideo.com
Pray for rain so I can see you on the river soon,
Jeremy Adkins
With four months of me planning this great event the time was upon us. The first people through the doors were the Stidham family. They were really supportive and appreciative to all the hard work I put into this and brought a very large collage of the great life Kyle lived. Without the help of James Graham the website and raffle would have never been possible. We sat up the tables and got everything laid out on the table and awaited the arrival of the masses. Buffalo Wild Wings brought in DJ Lee, local renowned DJ for Red Bull and future DJ of the North Alabama Whitewater Festival (NAWFest.net) DJ Lee was even able to put announcements, raffle winners, beers to drinks, and any other information on the screen to keep people informed on everything that was going on.
Finally, it was time to begin the Alabama premier of Lunch Video Magazine #24 Does a Dog Fart When You Kick It? to kick off the great event. The event was held on November 9th, 2007 at 7:00 pm at Buffalo Wild Wings in Trussville, AL. This event was a special fund raiser for Matthew Kyle Stidham, a 24 year-old kayaker from Hamilton, AL., who we tragically lost to a kayaking accident in New Zealand. When we began the first video there was not a seat in the building. This special fund raiser is an attempt to help his family replenish the approximately 15,000 dollars that it took for his return and burial. Kyle was an inspiration to us all and as a local paddling community and we wanted to honor him and his family. Buffalo Wild Wings was kind enough to donate a dollar on all 25+ drafts and all the money from Sweetwater Hummer and Sweetwater 420 throughout the evening. The energy was incredible with everyone drinking as much as possible and people that were just up there were very supportive of this great cause. In addition we raffled gear from various companies, sponsors, and kayaking affiliates with all proceeds going to the Stidhams. The crowd was fighting over the new Wavesport Promo videos and t-shirts that we tossed out. For added entertainment, we had locally renowned caricaturist/cartoonist, James Hislope, who offered his talent and time to help honor Kyle. James thank you for all your help. He charged $15 for each drawing and donated 80% of his proceeds to Kyle’s family. Mr. Hislope’s portfolio can be viewed online at Myspace.com/JamesHislope. After the LVM premiere we started video number 2. This was a video put together by Kyle’s friends of Kyle growing up in the sport of kayaking and his maturity in life. It was great to see the family smiling and enjoying the life that they had with their son. We did a few more knock back of drinks before we began the premiere in Alabama for the Wavesport promo. People were so excited to see Charlie Mix on video for the first time and he was overwhelmed by the autographs he had to sign. Thanks to Charlie to being a great sport and the brunt of many jokes. I want to give a special thank to all the sponsors that helped with making this great fundraiser possible especially Buffalo Wild Wings for not only sponsoring the event but providing a wonderful venue for us. Later I was told that it was the busiest night in the great sport’s bars history. Thank you to everyone that came out for the great cause and support the person that Kyle was. In the end we raised almost 2,500 for the Stidham family. If you are interested in ordering LVM please go LVMvideo.com
Pray for rain so I can see you on the river soon,
Jeremy Adkins
Team SR
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