The 6th Annual Jon Henderson Beating Cancer Benefit

Posted by David Henderson on Sep 15, 2009 in All, Music, My Life, My Music | 4 comments

On Saturday October 10th The New Foundry in Boulder will host an all day music event to honor the memory of Jon Henderson and raise money for local cancer patients through The Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation.

Jon Henderson, the founder of this event, lost his 9 year battle with cancer in April 2008. However, his inspiration and contributions live on and will be remembered once again through this event. Jon spent the last 2 years of his life writing, producing and directing the “BIG C” a 16 song CD and DVD Documentary. Jon wanted to prepare people for the cancer journey through music, so they can better understand the challenge of living with cancer. The “BIG C” CD doubles as the soundtrack for a DVD documentary which features real life perspectives from people living with cancer and their families.

Once again, some of Boulder’s best bands will perform to generate donations to the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers Foundation. The Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation (RMCCF) provides funding to cancer patients for bills and other unexpected expenses incurred as a result of their cancer and cancer treatment. Go to their web-site, http://www.RMCCF.org, to find out more about this wonderful charity

THIS YEAR’S EVENT INCLUDES:

- Special Screening of Jon’s “Big C” Documentary

- Live Band performances by:

2:00 pm – Slopeside
3:30 pm – Danny Shaffer
5:00 pm - Highwater
7:00 pm – SPYZ
9:00 pm - The Henderson Brothers Band

- Special Merchandise only available at the event – all proceeds go to The Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation (RMCCF)

- Big C DVD
- Big C CD
- The 6th Annual Jon Henderson Beating Cancer T-shirt

DONATIONS APPRECIATED!

If you’d like to make a donation in advance please click here:

LIVE USTREAM VIDEO FEED

If you can’t attend live. We will be broadcasting the event live on Ustream here:
http://bit.ly/Iel0k

MORE INFO ABOUT JON HERE:

Where everybody knows your name
Local musician Jon Henderson leaves a powerful legacy
By Gene Ira Katz
http://bit.ly/sMap4

Songs in the key of Big C
By Vince Darcangelo (editorial@boulderweekly.com)
http://bit.ly/info/1mmtvh

Photos of Jon:
http://bit.ly/7jQRL

For more information on this event please contact David Henderson.

Facebook Event Invite Here

Olde Stage Fire Recap – Left Hand Fire Department and FoxNews31 saved our Home

Posted by David Henderson on Jan 11, 2009 in All, My Life | 0 comments

This is my HOME!! We dodged the bullet on this one!!!!

Huge thank you goes out to the amazing Left Hand Fire Protection Department! You guys saved our home!

Also a huge thank you to FoxNews31, SkyFox, Rob Marshall, Melissa Mollet  and Josh for spotting this flair-up 15 feet from our home from SkyFox and calling 911. You guys also saved our home!

Thank You! Thank You!

Here’s our story in Video – Click on links to see

Flames Threaten Homes – My Home live on FoxNews31

Tami Henderson talks about watching firefighters save her home on TV

Interview of Tami and I on FoxNews31

Interview of Tami and I News4

Firefighters Battle to Save Homes in Boulder Co.

Flames threatened homes in what appeared to be Four Mile Canyon in Boulder County. Jan. 8, 2009

By KDVR.com and The Associated Press

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office allowed people who live east of U.S. 36 to return home Thursday morning, after they spent the night under an evacuation order because of a wind-driven winter wildfire that destroyed at least two homes. An evacuation order remained in effect for people who lived west of U.S. 36.

Boulder Fire Evacuees Return Home

BOULDER (AP) – Thousands of residents returned to their homes Thursday, thankful that an erratic, fast-moving wildfire fanned by high winds in Boulder County spared all but two homes.

Crews made steady progress encircling the blaze and called the lack of casualties and significant property damage nothing short of a miracle.

“I’m shaking and I’m so grateful we have our homes and our pets,” said Darlene Steiner, a resident of the Lake Valley Estates neighborhood north of Boulder, as she chatted with neighbors outside her home following an overnight evacuation that affected an estimated 3,000 people.

UGC from YouTube:

Photos – these are all just over the ridge from my house!

2008 is finally over – a year of many tears

Posted by David Henderson on Jan 1, 2009 in All, My Life | 1 comment

Sometimes I think that I know, what love’s all about, and when I see the light, I know I’ll be all right. Love lasts forever.

My Mother Joan Coale Henderson.

Joan Henderson Memorial Video from David Henderson on Vimeo.

Joan “Joanie” Coale Henderson, 80, passed away suddenly on November 9th, 2008.

Predeceased by her late husband, David Sr. in 1990 and her son Jonathan in April 2008. Joan is survived by her children, David Henderson, Jr., Susan (Henderson) Tyler, Jeffrey Henderson, and six grandchildren. Joan will be greatly missed by many other close friends and extended families.

Joan was born on August 16, 1928, in Towson, Maryland. She was the youngest daughter of Francis and Edmund Starr Coale. Married in 1951, Joan was the loving wife of David E. Henderson, a very successful television broadcast executive and former CEO of Outlet Broadcasting Company. That 40 year broadcast career saw the Henderson family make numerous moves from television market to television market as David climbed the corporate ladder – from Philadelphia, PA to Westfield, NJ, to Wellesley, MA, to Berwyn, PA, to Ruxton, MD, to Oyster Bay Cove, NY, and finally to East Greenwich, RI in 1973. With every move Joan designed, built and decorated brand new homes for her family, making sure to keep similar designs so her children would feel at home.

Joan was a pioneering broadcaster and talented actress in her own right. Her television career started on a live variety show on WMAR-TV in Baltimore in 1949. In 1951, while working on another live television show on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, she met and married a young television director, David Henderson. Throughout the 1950′s Joan worked on numerous live television shows and with some very soon to be famous television personalities. She worked with Ed McMahon, who went on to the Johnny Carson Show, Jim McKay, who went on to become an ABC Sports legend, and Dick Clark of American Bandstand legend. Joan appeared in live TV commercials on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand in the mid 1950′s. In 1956, Joan went into labor with her first child, David Jr., while on live television!

The next 20 years saw Joan raising 4 children, making 6 moves, designing 6 homes and doing lots of local community theater. Then in the late 1970′s Joan returned to television as co-host of the first PM Magazine Show with Charlie Jefferies on WJAR-TV in Providence. In the early 1980′s Joan went on to be Entertainment Reporter for WLNE-TV, Rhode Island channel 6.

Joan tragically and unexpectedly lost her husband David in 1990 just 3 days after a family Christmas. From the mid 1990′s on Joan enjoyed life as a loving grandmother to David III, Coale, Weller, Sophie, Phoebe, and Paige, to whom she was known as “Noanie”. She also had a devoted companion during these years, William F. Buckley, of Wakefield, RI, who became an important part of her life and family. Joan was also blessed with the incredible care given to her over the years by Wanda Bonacore of Carolina, RI. She too, has become a part of Joan’s family.

In April of this year, Joan lost her 2nd son Jonathan after a 9-year courageous battle with cancer. This past summer, Joan celebrated her 80th birthday with a wonderful weekend with all her family and a lovely party with her closest friends at the Dunes Club, where she has been a member for over 30 years She made a heartfelt and very inspirational speech about her loving son Jonathan and his amazing cancer battle. It was by far her finest hour!

Joan will be remembered as a loving wife, a wonderful mother, a loving grandmother, a talented actress, with two amazing television careers and a lifetime of Community Theater. She was a woman of enormous talent and passion with endless energy for love of family and love of life. She will be greatly missed. As her loving husband, David, coined the phrase, she truly was our “Joanie Only”.

Jonathan Henderson Memorial – please come join us

Posted by David Henderson on May 29, 2008 in All, My Life, My Music | 0 comments

Pictures of Jon….

Jonathan Henderson Lives

Technorati Tags: beating cancer, Boulder, Conor O’Neills, Henderson Brothers Band, Jon Henderson, Jonathan Henderson, RMCCF, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers Foundation

Where everybody knows your name – Local musician Jon Henderson leaves a powerful legacy

Posted by David Henderson on May 29, 2008 in All, My Life, My Music | 0 comments

Where everybody knows your name
Local musician Jon Henderson leaves a powerful legacy
by Gene Ira Katz

Jon Henderson loved Conor O’Neills. He drank there. He played music there. And he made a lot of friends. As Jon’s brother David says, “That was his Cheers.”

Jon moved to Boulder nine years ago, shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors gave him six months to live at that time, but Jon had never been too good about following orders. He was an artist and an optimist, and he was determined to live by his own rules. For almost a decade, he proved the medical world wrong and earned a loyal group of supporters along the way.

During his last visit to Conor O’Neills, Jon finished his final beer, said goodbye to friends and walked out to the parking lot. Minutes later, he had a seizure and slipped into a coma. The paramedics and police rushed to the scene, but they could not revive him. Jon Henderson passed away on Thursday, April 24. He was just 49 years old.

It was a sad conclusion to an inspirational story, but perhaps an appropriate one. “All of his community came out of Conor’s,” says David. “If you would have said, ‘Jon, write the script for the ending,’ that would have been right about where he would have written it.”

Fittingly, there is a celebration of Jon’s life scheduled for Saturday, May 31, at Conor O’Neills, featuring a number of local bands and including a fund-raiser for the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation (RMCCF). Folks from all over the country are expected to come, even with other memorial events on Jon’s behalf set for Atlanta and San Diego.

Many people knew Jon as a local musician and businessman, but few are aware that he left behind a promising career in television and marketing in Atlanta when he relocated to Boulder so that his family could help him with his fight against cancer. His father, David Sr., was a media pioneer who started out working for Westinghouse Broadcasting, handling talent, producing shows, and eventually winding up as president of a station group. He also helped build Outlet Broadcasting into one of the top media companies in the country.

“Our father was a very skilled, well-respected executive in the field,” explains Jon’s brother. “Growing up as kids, we had a great time. We could go down to the TV station and hang out, and we were on some shows in the early ’60s. Later on he got into the production business, and we’d watch them do the Mike Douglas Show and the David Frost Show. That’s how Jon kind of got into TV.”

Jon first worked at a station while he was still in high school in Providence, R.I., producing TV shows and commercials, then he went on to get a degree in communications at San Diego State, graduating in 1981. After that, he went up to Los Angeles and worked for Norman Lear on Archie Bunker’s Place. “He wanted to be a writer and producer of TV shows,” recalls David. “He was trying to sell program ideas to the networks. Then after about five years, he kind of got burned out on that business, which is very cut-throat and competitive in L.A.” When his dad opened a new station in Atlanta, Jon relocated there to run sales promotion for WATL for a couple of years before starting his own unique media marketing company, Henderson-Shapiro. “That’s what he was doing full time up until 1999 when we discovered, very shockingly, that he had colon cancer.”

“He was an extremely intuitive businessman, and a very charismatic kind of guy,” says Jon’s business partner Debbi Shapiro. “He could walk into a room and completely command the attention of everyone there. He was invincible. Probably people in Boulder didn’t see this side of Jon, because he was already sick when he moved there.”

Henderson-Shapiro provided promotions, marketing and media consulting for a wide variety of clients, such as Six Flags, Marriott, the Falcons, the Braves and numerous hospitality firms. But Shapiro points to the 1996 Olympics as a major highlight, when they were tapped by Atlanta-based Coca-Cola to handle promotions for the Olympic City.

Starting in 1993 with just the two of them, the company currently employs a staff of 23.

“I think they should know that Jon was a make-it-happen type of guy,” says Shapiro. “He was also hilarious. He had a great sense of humor. I’ll definitely miss that. I’m carrying on this legacy that he left. This company we started 15 years ago, it’s still here, and we’re supporting 23 families.”

Bridget Fisher, who manages Conor O’Neill’s remembers Jon showing up shortly after the pub first opened. “He was funny,” she says. “Very sarcastic.” Over time Jon established himself as a fixture at Conor’s, handling all the music booking, as well as promotional events like the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. He even helped with a marketing plan when the bar decided to expand to other locations. Jon also began holding annual Beating Cancer benefits, raising thousands of dollars over the past four years. “He was such an inspiration to me, and I think to anyone who has known him. A lot of people, when they’re diagnosed with cancer, they just sort of give up. But he fought it out, he kept going to treatment, and in the process, did all these events to raise money for the RMCCF. And he always supported local music — just truly unbelievable. He said, ‘I’m going to live to the fullest. I’m not going to let it get me down.’”

His oncologist for eight years, Dr. Allen Cohn, concurs. “Jon was a true inspiration on how to live with cancer. He lived his life to the fullest, and he didn’t let his treatments or his predicament really affect his life. He knew he had to go on with the cancer and deal with it.” Cohn also points out that Jon participated in numerous research trials to find new treatments for cancer. “He was very supportive of clinical research. He was a big advocate for that. I think the reason he did as well for as long as he did with his cancer was because of his participation in clinical trials.” The doctor also mentions Jon’s documentary project, The Big C, designed to help people who need to navigate their battle with cancer. “We’re going to work with his brother and his family to help get that out because it will help a lot of patients with their cancer experience. But also, it’ll be a true legacy for Jon, and I think he would have wanted it that way.” Cohn adds, “I miss him as a patient, but I certainly miss him as a friend, as well.”

David says The Big C project was close to his brother’s heart. “He got the bug to do a cancer project. He wanted to work on something that would leverage all his skills in producing, music, film, performing and songwriting. He wanted to leave a legacy to help other cancer victims who were suffering the same fate that he went through… all the personal and family issues that come up when you’re dealing with chemo, and how that’s going to change your lifestyle.” Jon spent a year on The Big C, pulling in a lot of Boulder recording people to work on it. After completing the production, he was in the process of trying to develop widespread marketing of the DVD, which is currently available on the Internet. “There were many projects that he was working at the time of his death,” says David, counting a film and a plan to build an analog recording studio, among others. “We’d like to try to continue as many of them as possible.”

One thing that surely will continue is the annual Beating Cancer fundraiser in July. Conor O’Neill’s is committed to it, as well as so many others who knew Jon. “The last nine years were really the best years of his life,” remarks David. “And he had cancer during those years. The relationships he had touched people’s lives and emotions. He inspired a lot of people.”

On the Bill:
A memorial event for Jon Henderson will be held on Saturday, May 31, all day long at Conor O’Neill’s, 1922 13th St., Boulder, 303-449-1922, featuring live music from local bands, including the Henderson Brothers.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jon’s name to the RMCCF, www.rmccf.org.

Thank you so much Katz for this wonderful piece on my brother Jon. Jon’s memory and light live on…….

Technorati Tags: Conor O’Neills, Jon Henderson, Jonathan Henderson, Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers Foundation, puppy, RMCCF

Guitar Hero was fine then RockBand added singing

Posted by David Henderson on Jan 2, 2008 in All, My Life | 0 comments

My youngest son had a few of his buds over yesterday for a game of Rockband.

We’re starting a new movement over here – parents against RockBand singing. Please send in your donations.

Hey I told them I would post this before I shot the video.

Technorati Tags: funny, Guitar Hero, painful, RockBand