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ENLARGE
GRAND JUNCTION — If you’re headed to Rock Jam this weekend and enjoy Alice Cooper’s music and signature, go home with a photo and T-shirt signed by the heavy metal rocker.
Even a pair of pants with his autograph inked on the rear pocket.
The 60-year-old singer, original “shock rocker” and DJ donated those things to the Grand Junction chapter of Operation Interdependence, a nonprofit group that sends items and notes to U.S. military men and women serving overseas.
Cooper will not perform at Rock Jam this weekend. But that didn’t stop the co-area managers of OI Karon and Al Carley from asking him.
It was their daughter’s’ idea.
“I had mentioned to my daughter we did a silent auction at Country Jam,” where Jason Aldean donated a signed cowboy hat and Diamond Rio donated a signed CD, said Karon Carley. “We had such good luck with Country Jam. I thought let’s try it again with Rock Jam.
“She said, ‘Have you ever thought about Alice Cooper?’ ”
She hadn’t, but was willing to give him a try for the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But then Karon Carley got an e-mail from Cooper’s publicist after Karon Carley’s daughter e-mailed a Denver radio station, asking for a favor. Cooper hosts an internationally syndicated classic rock show, Nights With Alice Cooper.
“I really was surprised, especially hearing from somebody like Alice Cooper,” Karon Carley said. “But you never know.”
Cooper was the first to be approached and the first to hear back.
One photo and the T-shirt will be sold in silent auction Friday night, and the pants and the other photo will be auctioned Saturday, on the grounds of Rock Jam.
People can bid all day, but bidding ends at 7 p.m.
Both Carleys think it’s great to raise money for OI. But they’re not too keen on Cooper’s music.
“That was a little more rock & rollish for me,” Al Carley said. “When you bite the heads off bats, that’s just ... uh, a little off the top,” he said referring to Cooper’s signature shocker during concerts.
Other items include T-shirts and food donations from Randy’s Southside Diner, possibly Poison, the headliner Friday and possibly from Kid Rock, Saturday’s headliner.
Look for the OI booth at the Rock Jam Ranch. For more information, call 523-4217.
OI takes personal care items and small food items and candy and packages them into individual Ziploc bags for troops serving overseas. The group takes donations and cash for shipping the boxes.
OI is also looking forward to a Veteran’s Day bluegrass concert at the VFW Hall, 1404 Ute Ave., in November. The organization will also have items for silent auction there too.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
Even a pair of pants with his autograph inked on the rear pocket.
The 60-year-old singer, original “shock rocker” and DJ donated those things to the Grand Junction chapter of Operation Interdependence, a nonprofit group that sends items and notes to U.S. military men and women serving overseas.
Cooper will not perform at Rock Jam this weekend. But that didn’t stop the co-area managers of OI Karon and Al Carley from asking him.
It was their daughter’s’ idea.
“I had mentioned to my daughter we did a silent auction at Country Jam,” where Jason Aldean donated a signed cowboy hat and Diamond Rio donated a signed CD, said Karon Carley. “We had such good luck with Country Jam. I thought let’s try it again with Rock Jam.
“She said, ‘Have you ever thought about Alice Cooper?’ ”
She hadn’t, but was willing to give him a try for the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But then Karon Carley got an e-mail from Cooper’s publicist after Karon Carley’s daughter e-mailed a Denver radio station, asking for a favor. Cooper hosts an internationally syndicated classic rock show, Nights With Alice Cooper.
“I really was surprised, especially hearing from somebody like Alice Cooper,” Karon Carley said. “But you never know.”
Cooper was the first to be approached and the first to hear back.
One photo and the T-shirt will be sold in silent auction Friday night, and the pants and the other photo will be auctioned Saturday, on the grounds of Rock Jam.
People can bid all day, but bidding ends at 7 p.m.
Both Carleys think it’s great to raise money for OI. But they’re not too keen on Cooper’s music.
“That was a little more rock & rollish for me,” Al Carley said. “When you bite the heads off bats, that’s just ... uh, a little off the top,” he said referring to Cooper’s signature shocker during concerts.
Other items include T-shirts and food donations from Randy’s Southside Diner, possibly Poison, the headliner Friday and possibly from Kid Rock, Saturday’s headliner.
Look for the OI booth at the Rock Jam Ranch. For more information, call 523-4217.
OI takes personal care items and small food items and candy and packages them into individual Ziploc bags for troops serving overseas. The group takes donations and cash for shipping the boxes.
OI is also looking forward to a Veteran’s Day bluegrass concert at the VFW Hall, 1404 Ute Ave., in November. The organization will also have items for silent auction there too.
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
