Once again the students of the Uptown Music Collective will take to the stage in collaboration with the staff of the Community Arts Center and other area groups in an effort to raise money to help others. The event, Reaching Beyond Limits: a Concert for the Children’s Development Center, organized by the students of the local nonprofit music school, follows on the heels of last February’s successful Youth for Haiti benefit for the victims of the devastating Haitian earthquakes. Modeling that events successful blueprint, the October 14 event will also feature musical performances from area groups, an art display, silent auction, a raffle and more, with all proceeds going directly to the Children’s Development Center.

The Children's Development Center, a not-for-profit organization, provides individualized services to children with special needs, age’s birth to 21 years, in an atmosphere of caring and partnership with other community agencies. Beginning as the Lycoming County Crippled Children's Society, a project of the Williamsport Rotary Club in 1923, the organization received its charter in 1932. In the seven decades since, services have been designed to meet the ever-changing needs within the community. Originally formed to meet the needs of children afflicted with polio in the 1930's, it now offers an entire spectrum of services intended to improve the lives of children with a large variety of disabilities; including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorders. Their goal-oriented approach maximizes each child’s ability to function as independently as possible within the community.

Like many nonprofits, the Children’s Development Center is struggling financially and is in need of community support. That fact alone, along with knowledge of the good work that the Center does with special needs kids in our area, would be enough of a reason to do a fundraising concert for the organization, however the reasons for this event strike much closer to home for Uptown Music Collective founder and Executive Director Dave Brumbaugh.

“When we brought our son Evan back from China my wife Barbara and I knew that he was going to need a lot of specialized help in multiple areas”, said Dave. Adopted from an orphanage in southern China at the age of 4, Evan did not speak and was severely delayed in every area. “My wife and I were frustrated and totally at a loss as to how to help him, when someone recommended the Children’s Development Center. At our first meeting with their staff I remember feeling that finally somebody had the tools needed to help our son.”
Evan, who has been diagnosed with verbal apraxia and pervasive developmental delay, just started Kindergarten this year at Stevens Elementary, after spending nearly two years in the preschool at the Children’s Development Center. There he also received Speech, Physical and Occupational Therapy weekly through the Centers staff who worked closely with the local Blast Intermediate Unit.

“The staff at the Children’s Development Center is amazing, they combine knowledge, experience and a deep understanding of special needs children with a powerful sense of love and caring that is unmatched in our area,” stated Brumbaugh. “My son’s progress over the past two years is due largely to their work and the integrated system used at the Center where therapy is reinforced in preschool and all members of the staff are communicating and working with one another”.

The fundraising concert will feature music by Uptown Music Collective students performing in a wide variety of styles and include a song which will feature a group of students from the Children Development Center joining the Collective students onstage. The event will also feature students from area high schools, including a performance by students from the Williamsport Area High School Choir and artists from the schools art programs. Several of these artists will create a painting live during the event which will be auctioned off along with art exhibited by other young local artists. There will also be performances by dancers from local dance schools and a raffle with prices from a wide array of local businesses. It will be a great event for the whole family.

Established in April of 2000, the Uptown Music Collective has developed a reputation as the premier source of music education in the area. Offering private lessons at all levels on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals, as well as classes and workshops in music theory, songwriting, and styles such as the Blues, Jazz, Classical and Rock. The primary age range of the Collective is 10 – 18 yrs old, but is open to all ages and levels. Along with private lessons, the UMC offers a myriad of programs including its flagship Performance Program. This program educates students about the ins and outs of major and minor performances, including direction, production, preparation and technical aspects of the performances. The program brings outstanding student run performances to the area, including the most recent, Heard It through the Grapevine: A Tribute to The Music of Motown.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door the night of the show. Advance tickets are available at the Community Arts Center Box Office, the Uptown Music Collective and at the Children’s Development Center. For more information call the Uptown Music Collective at 329-0888 or the Children’s Development Center at
326-0565.