Star-studded benefit to raise money for victims
By Cori Bolger
cbolger@...
Haskell
Details
What: Mississippi Rising, a concert/telethon to benefit the hurricane
relief effort.
When: 7-10 p.m. Saturday.
Where: The C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum, University of Mississippi in
Oxford.
Tickets: $100 for reserved seating; $30 for general admission seating.
Phone: (662) 915-7167.
In 1969, Bob Hope made history when he hosted the We Care telethon in
front of a full house at the Mississippi Coliseum.
The state's first color remote telecast raised several million dollars
to benefit victims of Hurricane Camille.
"They were really some remarkable days," Bob McRaney Jr., formerly of
WLBT-Channel 3, told The Clarion-Ledger in 1997. "The people of
Mississippi were so generous."
Thirty-six years and another devastating hurricane later, technology is
the only factor that's changed.
Hearts haven't.
Amory native Sam Haskell III and Washington D.C.-based attorney Lanny
Griffith plan to outdo past telethons with Mississippi Rising, a concert
slated for Oct. 1 at the University of Mississippi coliseum in Oxford.
Proceeds from the three-hour telethon, which will air nationally, will
go to the Louisiana-Mississippi Recovery Fund to help rebuild
storm-ravaged portions of the Gulf Coast.
While the venue seats close to 10,000, a majority of the donations will
come from the outside audience, Haskell said.
McRaney, Burke
Who's who
Entertainers confirmed to perform and/or take pledges include: Ray
Romano, Whoopi Goldberg, Jason Alexander, Marilu Henner, Kathie Lee
Gifford, Kathy Ireland, Delta Burke, Gerald McRaney, Brian McKnight,
Jean Smart, Debbie Allen, Doris Roberts, Gary Morris, Marilyn McCoo,
Billy Davis Jr., Steve Azar, Hugh Laurie, Bernadette Peters, Deidra
Hall, Guy Hovis, Gary Grubbs, Jill Conner Browne, Kristian Dambrino,
Lori Smith, Rita Cosby, Tucker Carlson, Gail Pittman and Cat Cora.
MSNBC plans to air Mississippi Rising live Saturday and internationally
Sunday.
A "few thousand" tickets already have been sold, Haskell said.
"We plan to raise quite a substantial amount of money because of the
telethon aspect of the program," he said. "People from Europe can call
in and make pledges and that's what we're most excited about."
Charleston resident and Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman will
host the show, which also will feature Mississippi natives Sela Ward,
Mary Ann Mobley, Faith Hill, John Grisham and Lance Bass. Some 25 other
celebrities are lined up to attend.
Bass, a member of the boy band N'Sync, discovered that several of his
family members living in Mississippi had homes that were destroyed or
damaged in the storm. Bass frequently visits his parents and older
sister, who live in Brandon.