It was a great scene last Friday at Avalon’s Second Annual Hometown Hootenanny at Downtown Home and Garden.  All around me people were dancing, talking, laughing, and looking about as happy as I could have ver hoped. It was hard not to marvel at the generosity and good spirit that brought everyone together that evening.

It was one big room of giving, if you ask me.

Volunteers giving their time to make the event run smoothly, to take pictures, pop popcorn, and serve our guests.

Donated auction items literally overflowed the two tables, and the local producers and businesses who gave them did so without hesitation.

Two fantastic local bands  - Orpheum Bell and Billy King and the Idylls - gave their time and literally their talent to create an atmosphere of joy and fun. (My toes tapped even as I reflected.)

Sponsors, supporters and friends sharing their sense of fun and community as they (literally) stepped out onto the dance floor for Avalon.

Finally, Mark Hodesh and the staff of Downtown Home and Garden shared their space to make it all possible. 

Everyone brought something with them that evening - good spirits, music, time, and energy - and when we put it all together we took another step to ending homelessness.