October Update

Hello everyone, it's Forrest.  Sorry that it has been so long since we updated the blog.  I only spent two nights at the hospital in Cleveland after my last surgery.  My recovery has been good and I have been busy.

Me with Tom, Kim, Grace, Toliver and the Matthews

Two weeks ago, I was proud to be a part of the annual A Place to Be Fundraiser to raise money for the Forrest Stone Allen Financial Aid Fund.  This Fund helps provide assistance to families and individuals that could not otherwise afford music or art based therapy.  At the fundraiser, we showed a 10 minute clip of the movie, "Music Got Me Here" that features myself and Tom Sweitzer and shows how music helped us both in life and helped me find my voice.  A Place to Be also premiered their brand new musical called "One Second of Grace" at the fundraiser.  The show talks about challenges teenagers face in their everyday lives.  We met our goal during the weekend - raising over $100,000 for families in need!  Thank you to everyone that helped that weekend and those who gave money to the fund.  A special thank you to the Matthews for opening their amazing property, Trillium Farm, for us to use to host the event.  And also, thank you to Grace Wheeler - the inspiration behind the new show "One Second of Grace."  The fundraiser was featured in the most recent edition of the Middleburg Eccentric.  It is not available online at this time, but we will share it when it is.  There are a lot of great pictures, so be sure to check it out.

Filming with Barbara Harrison from NBC

Also this month, Tom and I were on the news!  We met with Barbara Harrison, from NBC Washington for interviews and they aired a great special about music therapy and "Music Got Me Here" last week.  Barbara was really nice and fun to talk to. Here is the link if you would like to watch it:  https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/Music-Therapy-Helps-Man-Regain-Voice-After-Snowboarding-Acci_Washington-DC-451980993.html

The final big thing that has happened so far this month is that the movie "Music Got Me Here" screened at the Middleburg Film Festival!  It had two screenings - one on Saturday and one on Sunday, both followed by a Q&A session with myself, Tom, Susan Koch (the director of the film), Toliver and my parents.  It was cool to look out into the audience to see a mix of local Middleburg people and those that came to the film festival from out of town.  I also got to see a few of my former nurses and teachers.

At the Middleburg Film Festival with Tom, my parents and the film crew -
Editor Georgia Koch, Director Susan Koch and Director of Photography Neil Barrett

With APTB family featured in the film - Cameron, Kim, Brendan, Amy and Tom

Thank you everyone for giving me your support and for supporting APTB and Music Got Me Here.

- Forrest