The third annual Marathon Jam for Fisher House is set for 3 p.m. at the Littlefork VFW
Littlefork Snow Fun Day goers will have the chance to warm up and have some musical fun Saturday at the third annual Marathon Jam for Fisher House at 3 p.m. at the Littlefork Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Sloughgrass, the Birchdale-based bluegrass band, will host the event in honor of those who serve the country and their families.
“We all like to show our support for the young men and women who currently serve in our armed forces and also show our respect for our veterans for their sacrifices in past conflicts,” said Sloughgrass member Soren Olsen. “Supporting an organization like the Fisher House just seemed like a good way for us to pitch in.”
According to the Marathon Jam’s website, the goal of the event is to gather people and players from all walks of life and across the globe together for a day of public service.
In recent years, the focus of the Marathon Jam has been to give tangible support to service members and their families as they recover from injuries sustained in the line of duty by raising money for the Fisher House Foundation.
The Fisher House website describes the program as a unique private-public partnership that supports America’s military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury, the website said.
The website continued, annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 11,000 families, and have made available nearly three million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990. There is no charge for any family to stay at a Fisher House.
Sloughgrass members said last year, the Marathon Jam in Birchdale did not last quite as long as in some other locations, partly due to the extreme weather conditions.
“We have not been as good at raising money, but we have raised a lot of awareness about Fisher House and their mission,” Olsen said. “We look good as far as money raised per capita in Birchdale.”
This year, Sloughgrass will host the Marathon Jam for Fisher House in conjunction with Littlefork’s Snow Fun Days to hopefully draw a larger crowd.
Olsen said all donations collected at this weekend’s Marathon Jam for Fisher House go directly to the Minnesota Fisher House in Minneapolis.
“It is nice to know that the facility is there if any of our local service members and their families need to use it,” he said.
Olsen invites anyone at any level from beginner to advanced musicians who play a bluegrass instrument of some sort to bring it down and join the jam at the Littlefork VFW Saturday.
“Anyone can come for a while during the jam and play or listen, or come and stay until everyone’s fingers hurt and our voices are worn out,” he said.
“We want as much participation as we can get to raise awareness of the fundraiser and of the Minnesota Fisher House. Jammers previous years have already contacted us and told us that they will be back to join in the fun and share some songs.”
History of the Marathon Jam
According to the Marathon Jam’s website, more than 20 years ago, a small group of musicians, led by John Santa, began to meet once a month at someone’s house to play music. Most of these players were studio musicians who had worked together on various albums for other artists and decided it would be good to get together socially and not just for work.
Over time, the group expanded to include more than 150 people, now including non-professional musicians and even civilians (people who can’t play or sing). Any given month would see 20 to 40 people at the monthly gathering, and spectators became more and more common.
As the list of songs grew so large, someone once commented that they believed the group could play for 12 hours straight and not repeat a single song. From that simple thought, the first Marathon Jam was born in 2004.
