Last night, the Colony Cafe in Woodstock was packed front-to-back with friends and music fans. The crowd gathered for the two-fold purpose of honoring the memory of Ron Osenenko, former owner of Woodstock Music Shop two doors down, and of raising money for the John Herald Music Fund. Osenenko passed away suddenly the day after Christmas last year.

The evening got underway around 8 p.m. when Derek Osenenko took the mic to welcome the crowd, noting that the five years his brother had spent as part of the Woodstock music community had probably been his most fulfilling.

It’s been a learning experience for Derek, who said that taking on the sole responsibility for running the store, which he silently co-owned, has taught him a lot about the community of which Ron had been a vital part. The store, he said, has taken on a life of its own. And Ron’s still alive and well inside.

The evening was all about helping musicians, a fitting tribute to Ron who was remembered by one of the evening’s performers, Charles Lyonhart, as someone who was always willing to help musicians, struggling and established. As the punchline to his heartfelt anecdote, Lyonhart estimated that Ron had probably supplied him with upwards of a hundred free guitar picks. But his point wasn’t missed; Ron was a heartfelt supporter of musicians because he was a man who truly loved music. “You play, we listen” he remembered him saying.

A number of talented musicians came out to play while a full house listened. The first performance was by keyboardist Pete Levin, accompanied by Erik Lawrence on sax, Ken Lovelett on drums and a Mike DeMicco on guitar. The quartet put down an upbeat jazz set that lasted only about 45 minutes.

Charles Lyonhart and the Junkyard Angels took the stage next, featuring Kevin Maul and Chris Zaloom on pedal and lap steel, George Quinn on bass and Dennis Cotton on drums as well as backing vocals from Julie Lass and a woman introduced only as Kirsty. The rollicking set lasted well over an hour and included bragging rights for Lyonhart, who introduced his newly engaged son and future daughter-in-law to the crowd dedicating his tune “I Do” to them.

Meanwhile, a silent auction was taking place in the front of the venue. Generous donations from the Woodstock Music Shop and Levon Helm among others included gift baskets and tickets to the monthly Ramble Levon plays at his nearby studio, a Beatles Sgt. Peppers lithograph and more.

At midnight, the unofficial count found that the evening had raised more than $3,000. To make a donation, visit the Family of Woodstock Web site.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 7:43 am and is filed under All, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.