Rockin’ For Rescues

Rockin For Rescues

Rachel Callahan, Features and Cover Story Editor

Rockin´ for Rescues was a local concert held by senior, Stephen Krcma, with the help of Stoughton choir students and local Boy Scouts. This idea was considered in summer of 2019, then started in January 2020. The concert was later held in August, due to delays from  COVID-19. This process has been going on for months, with the help of many.

Stephen Krcma is a senior at SHS who is involved in choir, and has been in Boy Scouts since first grade, starting in January of 2014. 

“My inspiration behind this was to get the Eagle Scout Rank, the final rank in Boy Scouts. Music is such a big part of my life, and doing an Eagle Project based on music was the perfect way to use my hobbies to help someone in the community,” Krcma says.

Money was raised through GoFundMe, and is going towards Brown Paws Rescue in Waunakee. Songs that Krcma sang in the concert included “Wagon Wheel”, “Chief Fried”, “Get Along”, “Don’t Blink”, “Greatest Love Story”, “Take Me Home Country Roads”, and “Perfect”, which was performed with senior SHS choir students Lucia Nortwen and Reagan Slinde.

Choir teacher Ryan Casey was another big inspiration behind this. 

“I met him when I joined choir my sophomore year,” Krcma says.“and because I was part of Madrigals as well as a Pops soloist, I got to know him personally. My family came to a few of his concerts at Springer’s, and I started talking to him about the idea.”

Krcma had an immense role in creating Rockin’ for Rescue. 

“My mom showed me an article about a scout who performed a Christmas concert at a nursing home, and right when she said that, I knew I wanted to plan and perform a concert for charity,” Krcma says.

Picking just one organization to donate the money to was a sizable decision. “My family adopted our dog, Tucker, from them in 2018, and my mom was able to meet the founder, Becky Brown, at a puppy training class,” Krcma says.

Lucia Nortwen is another senior at SHS who performed in the concert alongside Krcma. “It was a concert to raise funds for a charity that helps dogs find homes. Stephen brought up the idea months ago, so we had all the  time to plan,” Nortwen says.

Students got together and performed, despite the difficult circumstances. “Stephen played the guitar, and we sang Perfect by Ed Sheeran. I also performed Hallelujah with him playing the guitar,” Nortwen says.

“I have a good relationship with the choir students. It’s fun to work with the students in a setting outside of school performing different styles of music,” Casey says, “I’m extremely proud of Stephen and his dedication to this fundraiser.”