July 16, 2019
Tickets available now for concert and dinner benefitting SIU’s Morris Library
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Friends of Morris Library annual fundraiser will feature a performance by Fiddle Rick and the Bourbon Boys and a catered meal.
The event is slated for 5:30-9:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 in the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Student Center Ballrooms.
Entertaining evening assured
The evening begins with a silent auction and appetizers. A cash bar will be available as well.
The buffet dinner from Morello’s Restaurant and Catering of Harrisburg will be served at 6:30 p.m. The menu features blackberry glazed pork loin, ivory chicken, cheese tortellini, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, strawberry orange salad, bread, cobbler, tea, lemonade and water.
The popular regional band will play a wide array of music, including Irish, country, folk, Cajun and psychedelic gypsy starting at 7:30 p.m. Members include “Fiddle” Rick Johnson, with vocals and fiddle; Matthew Borowicz with vocals and guitar, Sam Bates on accordion and Josh Kidd as percussionist. This will be one of the last concerts the band performs.
Get tickets now
Tickets are available now online for $35 each. Tickets are sold only in advance and Sept. 8 is the purchase deadline.
Event sponsors are also welcomed.
Important fundraiser for library
This is the Friends of Morris Library’s major annual fundraising happening of the year. Proceeds from the event are used to support the educational mission of the library.
The friends help with special library purchases including the recent acquisitions of a first-edition copy of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe for Special Collections, the third-millionth volume in the library’s collection; and a high-end scanner that allows quality scanning of materials to send to other libraries through the interlibrary loan program.
In addition, the friends sponsor diverse special events such as a Constitution Day program, the Delta Award presentation and more. Funding also was used to purchase pocket-size constitutions for all Constitution Day event participants at the library.
Many utilize library and its resources
Morris Library provides a wide variety of resources and services to SIU students, faculty and staff as well as visitors and researchers from throughout the region and around the world. The library boasts more than three million books along with about 400,000 e-books and a wide assortment of print and online journals. Its renowned Special Collections Research Center houses an immense assemblage, including nearly 80,000 rare books, photos, historical objects and more than 20,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives.
There, you will find everything from a Gutenberg Bible page to Amelia Earhart letters; a handwritten Abraham Lincoln speech, very early maps and even a clay tablet from Senkereah (now Iraq) believed to date to 2400-2200 B.C.
For details
To learn more about the Friends of Morris Library fundraiser, call 618/453-1446. Find out more about Morris Library and the many resources and services it provides at lib.siu.edu/ or by calling 618/453-2818.