‘Lady A’ fetes students in tornado-hit Ind. town

Each of Henryville’s juniors and seniors received five tickets for floor seating at the show. The juniors and seniors at Silver Creek, the rival Clark County school that nominated Henryville, each received one ticket, said Tahnee Brown of concert promoter National Shows 2.

Lady A’s Kelley said the band hoped to lift the Henryville community’s spirits.

“We want to just go there and hopefully bring a little joy, meet them, shake their hands, encourage them to try to get through it as best as they can,” the singer said.

The sold-out benefit is accompanied by an online drive that’s one of several disaster relief efforts for Henryville. That online drive had generated more than $119,000 by Wednesday morning, but concert organizers say that reflects only a portion of the money that’s been collected.

“With everything’s that’s happened _ the tornado and the destruction _ now we’ll have something else to remember for the rest of our lives,” said Henryville junior class vice president Kaitlyn Maloney, 17, who rode out the March 2 storm with her parents in the basement of their Henryville home. “This will give us something to remember that’s happy.”

The show also could be a sort of homecoming for many town residents, said Monroe Township Trustee Allen Bottorff, a lifelong Henryville resident whose home was damaged in the storms and lost a second one he and his wife were remodeling. He planned to attend the show with his family, including his 18-year-old twins, son Tanner and daughter Drew.

“It’s going to be quite a bit of a reunion for a lot of people who have been scattered about,” Bottorff said.

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Online: http://www.bit.ly/ladyaprom

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Associated Press reporter Rick Callahan in Indianapolis and staffer Mesfin Fekadu in New York contributed to this story.

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