Written by Stacy Roibal // Photo by Macy Cox
Men’s social club Knights and women’s social club Pi Theta Phi worked together on Sept. 2 to put on a fundraising concert called “CrabbFest” in the name of Cory Crabb, a Harding student who is unable to be on campus this semester due to medical complications. He is a member of Knights and a beau for Pi Theta Phi, which is what set this collaboration into motion.
Senior Jackson Keller, the treasurer for Knights and part-time bouncer for the event, said that the concert raised about $3,400 in ticket and T-shirt sales. They sold around 400 tickets in the form of wristbands with “CRABBFEST 2022” printed on them. The T-shirts sold at the event were designed by junior Jobin Butterfield, a Knights member.
The proceeds raised at the concert are being donated to Dry Bones Denver per Crabb’s request; he had plans to work with them over the summer and wanted to give back, Keller explained.
The nonprofit organization “is a long-standing community of support among Denver’s unhoused teens and young adults,” according to the ministry’s website. “Alongside helping to meet emotional, spiritual and physical needs, [their] true work is practicing the way of Jesus through building ongoing relationships that remind the invisible among us of their immeasurable worth.”
Senior Blake Dale, president of Knights, said the club wanted to do something fun in honor of Crabb because he is usually the one bringing the fun. This was the second semester kickoff fundraising concert that Knights has hosted. The first one took place on Aug. 28 last fall in support of White County Domestic Violence Prevention Inc. Since this was the second annual concert, Dale said the goal was “to kick off the school year with a sick concert because [they] had a sweet one last year.”
Opening the concert was the solo artist T!AN, a former Harding student now living in New York. He was able to perform a few of his original songs, and the crowd was eating it up. T!AN also featured senior Knights member Adam Dawidow on one of his songs during the set. Dawidow took this opportunity to show off his stellar rap and dance skills to the amazement of the crowd.
Headlining the event was the band Sparky & The Hills, who originated from Columbus, Ohio. Band member Eric Johnson is a Harding and Knights alum, which is what brought them to Searcy. A few songs into their set, Crabb was brought on stage via FaceTime, and the crowd cheered louder than they had all night.
Crabb was active on social media throughout the night responding to concert-goers and friends tagging him on Instagram. It was evident that he was missed.
