Many of you already know this. Some, I am certain, do not. George Grand, our own Toasted Almond, sold a lot of records on AK and Club Polk, and, before that, gear, of all descriptions. ALL the proceeds, not net, all the gross proceeds, went to the Githens Center for the Handicapped, in Mt Holly, NJ. where his daughter Tiffany went to school and received much care. You see, George and Teresa's daughter, Tiffany, was dealt a cruel blow in her life, Rett syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disease, that is almost exclusive to girls, one with a particularly nasty course. Her earthly struggles ended in 2005, at the age of 20. George began fundraising for the Githens Center, until, well, until his end. His last record thread showed a sale this year, while he battled the cancer which finally took him from this world. George's efforts, for which he always gave us credit, permitted the Githens Center (GC) to build an accessible and safe playground for the students and residents of the school. If you search for 'GitRep', under Toasted Almond's name, you will get an idea of the magnitude of this. I leave that to you.
Instead, I want to point you to this thread, about Tiffany's Rosebush.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-tiffany-rosebush.61582/
I'm not saying you HAVE to believe this was anything more than coincidence. I only know what I believe.
George worked tirelessly for a decade, raising funds for the GC. I would like each of you, who, like me, have purchased records from George, to consider one more fundraising push, in George's memory. The Githens Center takes paypal, now, even if George didn't, so I have sent a donation to them, in George's memory. If we sent flowers, he'd be the first to thank us, and then chew us out a new one, pointing out that the GC could use the money, and rightly so. The family will receive notification of the donation in George's memory, so Teresa, George's widow, and Stephanie, their younger daughter, will get a bit of an idea just how far George's reach extended through the online world. George and Tiffany are joined together again, looking down on all of us. Let's give George a sendoff to remember. Be sure to include a message that your donation is in memory of George Grand.
http://www.githenscenter.org/donations/
...and click on Dkip to Donations. That will take you to paypal.
If you, like George, prefer to pay by more traditional means, here is the address:
Githens Center
(Burlington County Cerebral Palsy Association)
40 Cedar Street, Mount Holly, NJ 08060
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please keep the Ladies of the home of the Jersey Grands, in your thoughts and prayers, while they mourn.