Raye comes through for Boys & Girls

One of our favorite causes, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada, got a second helping of attention this weekend when country singer Collin Raye performed a makeup concert at the Piñon Plaza.

Raye, a former Northern Nevada resident, along with his band including piano player Gene Le Sage, who grew up in the Carson City area, had been scheduled as the main attraction at the Boys & Girls Club's annual auction and barbecue on Sept. 11. But Raye was sidelined by a throat problem and couldn't make the trip.

The fund-raiser went off without another hitch, with Stew Stewart and band filling in. Attendees were promised a Collin Raye concert, and on Saturday afternoon he made good.

Several hundred appreciative fans showed up at the parking lot of the Piñon Plaza. Raye deserves credit for giving them a full, enthusiastic concert. It would have been easy to give a half-hearted effort in the middle of the afternoon for an audience that, in some cases, got in for $10 a head. But Raye gave them more than their money's worth.

Even more credit goes to Piñon Plaza owner Clark Russell, a major force behind the Boys and Girls Club fund-raiser every year, and his daughter, Jennifer Russell, who headed this year's event. The casino's staff put in a lot of effort for the makeup concert, too, as did Boys and Girls Club staff and volunteers.

In a city with dozens of good causes and worthy organizations, the Boys & Girls Club stands among the foremost for the service it provides to schoolchildren all year and the high profile it maintains in the community.

Few groups could have turned a potential disaster - star headliner falls ill the night before the big fund-raising concert - into two successful events. It helps to have good friends who come through in a pinch.