I'm guessing that Sean was saying “There will be a snowstorm in Atlanta in March before my Mom could pull off a benefit with Lurrie Bell, The Wood Brothers, King Johnson, Felix and the Cats with Jon Liebman and Soul Shakers.” Either that, or "If I can't play with Lurrie Bell, no one can." I am told by a friend of Sean’s and mine that Bob Dylan once said that weather was the great equalizer. Whatever the reason, fate deemed that Atlanta would have the first snowfall of the year the day of our concert and today it's in the 70's!As it turned out, what looked like blizzard conditions, faded to dry roads with no accumulation. It snowed just long enough to scare some who would have come enough to stay in their homes...at least some of them. For the people who flew in from Chicago, they were wondering what the fuss was all about. Snow or not, the concert proved to be a great success with representatives from Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, France, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Michigan.....We apparently had planned the organization to the point where our committee and volunteers often seem bored, while people commented on the professionalism of the entire event. Things went smoothly in every area from ticketing to food to merchandise. Most importantly to the attendees, the concert itself went without a hitch and offered phenomenal music while a slideshow of Sean was running on screens on both sides of the stage. (I must admit that the slide show prevented me from enjoying too much of the entertainment, but I thought that it was a beautiful way to incorporate Sean into the program.).Die hard fans of Sean and the bands came in numbers great enough to tell us that there is an audience for our cause. Several of our sponsors didn't venture out in the weather, and we know many others who sent messages asking us if we intended to cancel. In all, I estimate about 150 people bought tickets, with the remainder present being staff, volunteers and musicians.There are some wonderful and heartwarming stories about people's determination to get to us. Chris Wood lives in Woodstock and was refused entry onto his plane because of his stand up bass. He drove to Newark (about a 2 hour drive), paid for the bass' passage and arrived without a word of complaint. Lurrie Bell proved to be the nicest man with an obviously generous heart. He suffered through 4 plane changes and a 2 hour delay, but managed to arrive in time for his performance, and what a performance it was! Such a quiet man to turn into a force of nature on stage. I hope Sean was watching.I cannot say enough about the quality of the music and the demeanor of the musicians. Sean would have been so honored, and I certainly was honored in his behalf. I was moved to tears to feel so much love for him and support for our cause. Lisa Love was an awesome emcee with the best job ever: introducing the Soul Shakers, Felix and the Cats with Jon Liebman, King Johnson, The Wood Brothers and Lurrie Bell. I would not pretend to be qualified to critique any music, but a tone deaf attendee wouldn’t have words to express the unbelievable talent that graced the stage in Sean’s honor.Our goals were to break even while getting the word out about the seriousness of bipolar disorder and the work of our cause, all the time keeping Sean in our thoughts as our catalyst. We more than met what we sent out to do. For example, there was a lovely older couple from Savannah who told me that they happened upon Sean by accident one day. They were ambling around the City Market when they heard some phenomenal music that happened to be coming from Sean. From that point on, they followed him whenever they could. This night they came to celebrate Sean’s music and to support the Fund. They have a very close relative who struggles with bipolar disorder and they know first hand its devastation on their loved one and the entire family.As I said on Sunday, none of this would have been possible without the hard work of our fundraising committee. I will list them alphabetically, as each of them provided one part of the perfect combination that led to Sunday’s success: Lauren Arno, Melissa Bauer, Patti Beaman, Bridget Costello, Bartley Cross, Allison Dellamaggiora, Jon Liebman, Donald Schellhaas, Kelli Stripling, Megan Tackett, Manda Pullen Turetsky, and Lindsey Warren. In addition to these incredible people, there are many others who deserve our thanks for their generosity, including: Reggie Colbert and North Atlanta High, Jeff Bakos, Tom Dausner and Vincent Tseng, Matt Harper of Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, Tom Hyslop, Lisa Love, Iain Martin and Andy Whitaker.The weather may have affected the number of people who were able to attend, but it certainly had no effect on the generosity and enthusiasm of those who did brave the weather. Our silent auction was a phenomenal success. Manda organized it as if she worked for Sotheby’s! Stephen Talkovich’s beautiful hand crafted guitar was purchased by Gary Leiffer; the phenomenal painting by Eileen D’esterno was bought by our board member, Richard Bolton, and gifted to me! There were tickets to Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble as well as DVDs and CDs, beautifully framed and matted prints of Sean by Keith Taylor, prints of Sean from 1998 donated by Evan Waller and more recent prints from Jerry Novick. Other auction donors included: Acupuncture Works, AnyHaul.com, Blind Willie’s, Carol’s Linens of Macon, Dan Seevers, Delta Groove, Donald Schellhaas and Ronda Wenger, Eby Designs, Landslide Records and Natural Body Spa and Shop. The charity of the people who donated and purchased these treasures is beyond gracious.Despite the weather, we were able to cover the costs of the event through the generosity of our sponsors: Sonia Livingston, Northside Tavern, One Consulting Group, Maddy Moneypenny, Enercon, Blind Willie’s, and Amy Pollick and Josh Lipman as well as members of our Donor Circle. We also received in-kind donations from Costco, Datadirect, Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, Meanass Bear Graphics, Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers, Noize Productions (all the way from Buffalo!), Ticket Alternative and last, but not least, Tiny Design Studio.This was our first effort and I am so proud of the result. I was very disappointed that some of the people who loved Sean were unable to attend and hope that next year, it won’t snow!I have been asked what it is that we will do with the money we have collected. It is important to know that we consider every dollar donated as an obligation to use it to support our mission. On Sunday, for example, we donated a guitar of Sean’s and a scholarship in his name. Because they had nothing to do with Bipolar Disorder, these were family sponsored and did not use the Fund’s money. We are just beginning; however, the support and momentum has been so great, so fast that we have to catch up operationally. The donations have been respectable, but certainly will not build a facility, or support funding for mental health care. All of our staff are volunteers and every penny goes into the Fund. Over the next few months, I will be meeting with our Board and our Scientific Advisory Board to establish the steps we need to take to accomplish our mission. Each step of the way, I will keep you informed. So far, just the fact that conversations are startingabout this disorder is a step in the right direction, and as Sean said so eloquently, “There’ll be no half steppin.”Sunday was representative of the intersection of the love for Sean and his music and the recognition of the needless tragedy of his passing. Through his light, we hope to improve the future of people who suffered as he did. It’s “All I Can Do.”