SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

NOTES FOR NOTES

A note from Rommie:

Mike O'Neill Memorial Scholarships

Since the passing of our former co-worker Mike O'Neill last week, friends of his have expressed online how he encouraged them in their own times of trouble to pursue playing music to uplift them.

Other musicians have remembered fondly how he shared the stage with them at venues around the area. Many other friends say he opened their eyes to music they may never have otherwise heard by making CD's for them.

He devoted his life to the pursuit of music and sharing his songwriting gifts with other people.

We want to memorialize him in a way that we feel he would have appreciated through music so we are establishing the Mike O'Neill Memorial Scholarships for the Rock School at the Patel Conservatory, the educational section of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Tampa.

Through these scholarships, some young people who cannot afford to pursue their musical dreams of playing rock 'n' roll will now be able to get professional lessons and the chance to record in a real studio. The rock school tuition is about $400, so we're hoping to send a number of kids to the school. Mike's scholarship fund will be managed by the performing arts center, and all money collected will go directly to educating music students.

For each person who makes a donation, the center will send a notice to Mike's family and an acknowledgement to you the donor, so you'll know your donation is in the right hands.

To learn more about the school, go to www.patelconservatory.org.

To make a donation:

Send checks to Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Development Department, P.O. Box 518, Tampa FL 33601. Make them payable to the performing arts center, and be sure to note that the money goes to the Rock School in memory of Mike O'Neill.