The Triangle Tavern in White Center was packed for Ally against All, a fundraiser to help 4 month old Ally Rudolph
Tattoos, beer, and Punk Rock music. Sounds like the normal Saturday night live music scene in Seattle. Except this night fell outside the norm. Rough and rowdy punkers, usually known for their thrashing chords and their beer swilling ability, showed a soft side that most of main stream Seattle doesn’t see or know exists.
Ally Rudolph, little girl barely four months old with A.L.L.- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia- needed help, and these edgy folks stepped up to the plate to raise money for her and her family.
The evening was the brainchild of Rockin Stan Records owner Donnie McDermott and Brett Thompson, bass player of Rat City Ruckus.
Triangle Tavern owner Geoffrey (Mac) McElroy, who does a lot for the community of White Center was approached by Brett Thompson about the Rudolph’s situation and instantly said yes to hosting the event at his establishment.
There was a raffle of items such as CD music packs, custom snowboards, skateboards, photography prints, gift certificates, T- shirts, and power tools. Some of the donators were; Zippy’s Burgers, Rockin Stan Records, Triangle Tavern, Butch Fields, Heather Heuling, Char Thompson, and Johan of Capita Snowboards.
Acting a little crazy is what punk rockers are known for and Rockin Stan records owner Donnie McDermott had the topper on the night. A special set of raffle tickets were sold and the winner got to shave Donnies head in any fashion they chose. The winner was Rhonda Stapleton of Full Tilt Ice Cream. She shaved off a section of hair on either side of Donnies head making him look like Bozo the Clown. Ruckus bass player Bret Thompson said it “made him look like he lost a bet”. Part of the deal is Donnie will have to ware his new doo for one week. His wife, Julie Hyatt, rolled her eyes and smiled.
Three bands donated their time to play for the event- Fat Kids, Hippie Speedball, and White Centers own Rat City Ruckus. These three bands plus Rats in the Grass, Rat Chords, and Guns for Radio all got together and recorded a compilation CD for the event. Proceeds from sales of the CD will go to the family. The CD can be ordered at www.rockinstanrecords.com
Rat City Ruckus bass player Brett Thompson pulled a fast one on his band by announcing right before they started their set that he would strip for the highest bidder.
“I asked the audience to donate money if I would take my shirt off- and got $8. But then I said how about if the band took their shirts off and instantly got $50. Apparently I’m not the sexy one in the band”.
Brett went on to say the nights money was raised through the cover charge at the door, raffle ticket sales, and donations. 100% of the money will go to the family.
As to Donnie McDermott’s involvement Brett said that he and Donnie are friends of the Rudolph’s “Donnie likes to do a fundraiser for charity every year for his birthday so we decided this should be the cause for this year’s birthday party”. Donnie turned 57 years young.
At the end of the evening almost $1600.00 dollars was raised for Ally.
Ally was born on September 30th, 2012. On December 15th her parents received heartbreaking news. Little Ally was diagnosed with infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (A.L.L.) A.L.L. is an acute (sudden onset), rapidly progressing form of leukemia that is characterized by the presence in the blood and bone marrow of large numbers of unusually immature white blood cells. She is considered high risk because she is under one year old, Ally has been in the hospital for two weeks now and she will be there for at least another month while she goes through chemotherapy. After that, she will have a long road ahead of her. At six months she will have a bone marrow transplant and will again be living in the hospital for several weeks. Her chemotherapy treatment will be continuing for two years or more to make sure the leukemia is gone for good.
Her parents, Tara and Dan Rudolph, are living with Ally in the hospital. Tara quit work to be a stay at home mom, so she is with Ally each day. As much as Dan would like to be there every minute of the day, life still goes on outside the hospital, and he must continue to work and support his family.
If you would like to help, please send any money donations through PayPal to taralmott@gmail.com
Another avenue to donate is through Ally against All in the community section on Facebook, and at Rockin Stan Records online- www.rockinstanrecords.com .
If there is something else you would like to donate (toys, food, clothing, books, etc.) please send a message through Ally against All on Facebook.