Now you can square dance for a cause.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and country music royalty Rosanne Cash will headline an upcoming relief show benefitting the storm-battered community of Red Hook.
“Red Hook is such a special corner of Brooklyn, and there is really no place like it in the entire New York metropolitan area,” said Cash, the eldest daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash, who added that it is part of her responsibility “to see that all of Red Hook comes back to life.”
All proceeds of the Nov. 21 sundry extravaganza at the Bell House will go directly to Restore Red Hook, an organization that aims to help the small businesses of Red Hook get back on their feet after Hurricane Sandy’s floodwaters inundated them, ruined inventory, destroyed machinery, and crippled livelihoods.
The benefit, hosted by the Jalopy Theatre and Friends, will kickoff with a honky-tonk square dance and feature a range of musical performers including John Pinamonti, Jesse Lenat, the Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues, the Whiskey Spitters, and Alex Battles and the Whiskey Rebellion.
There will also be a standup performance by comedian and co-creator of the Daily Show Lizz Winstead and a screening of Michael Buscemi’s film “B61.” Tone Johansen, co-owner of neighborhood staple Sunny’s Bar, that fell victim to the storm, will even sing a few ditties about life and love in Red Hook.
“Hurricane Sandy devastated the Red Hook community and hurt the residents, renters, homeowners and businesses there, so we’ve been doing what we can to help out,” said Jalopy Theatre owner and event organizer Lynette Wiley.
“This benefit is a great way to bring people together in the midst of these challenging times and raise money for the community.”
It will take an estimated two million dollars for the waterfront community’s restaurants, bars, vintage shops, and corner bodegas to reopen their doors, said Wiley.
“If we can sell out the Bell House we will raise $15,000 for Restore Red Hook,” she said. “It will take more than this benefit to reach our goal, but this is a nice way to start.”
More than 40 Red Hook businesses including neighborhood favorites like Bait and Tackle, Dry Dock, the Good Fork, Red Hook Lobster Pound, and Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies fell victim to severe flooding and loss of power after Hurricane Sandy.
“The damages are vast and expensive,” said Monica Byrne, co-owner of the Van Brunt St. restaurant Home/made, who helped spearhead Restore Red Hook.
Byrne said that the Red Hook peninsula, cut off by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway functions like a small town.
“If the economic center of a small town is destroyed the ramifications extend beyond small businesses. It’s a ripple effect for the entire community,” she said. “This is about rebuilding the community as a whole.”
A Benefit to Restore Red Hook at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues, (718) 643–6510, www.thebellhouseny.com]. Nov. 21, 6 pm doors, 7 pm show, $30.
