Heart still beatin'

Don't let the cowboy hat fool you: John Ward rocks to Huey Lewis and the News.

"I've listened to them for years; though I am country and western, I love Huey Lewis," Ward said.

As part of the seventh annual Education Foundation fund-raiser meant to help ECISD students, the famous '80s band put on a concert Sunday at the Ector County Coliseum.

The yearly concerts started with Willie Nelson and have since included such classic rock groups as Chicago and Three Dog Night.

"We started to find our niche with Three Dog Night in 2006, and since then we even had to open up extra seating for Chicago in 2007," Education Foundation Director Jaclyn Gaona said.

Many brought their children to the concert to try to get them to hear some of the music they grew up with in the '80s. For Shannon Mullins, it was important to bring his son Jackie, 11, to his first concert here.

"This is fantastic; I am just glad we get to have it here in Odessa and do it for the Education Foundation, a good cause," Mullins said.

The crowd yelled "yeah!" when the band played ‘Heart of Rock and Roll' and added "Oh yes, Odessa, Texas." Lubbock youngster Mallory Barnett sported a Huey Lewis shirt and stood up dancing during much of the concert. Her mother, Stacy, said this is Mallory's fourth Huey concert of late.

"Whenever she has a choice, it is what she plays," Stacy said. Mallory explained a bit why she liked a band on top of the music scene before she even was born.

"I like that they take the time to sign autographs, are nice, and their music just all comes from the heart in a fun way," Mallory said.

Gaona said the annual fund-raiser is used to fund "innovative projects in the classroom," to pay for things that ECISD does not have the budget to do. For example, a second-grade class at Barbara Jordan Elementary used grant funds to create a stop motion animation film on animals using clay, resulting in a red carpet movie premiere. An Odessa High computer class created a robot to put out fires.

Director Gaona added this year's grant application period ends Oct. 1 for teachers still seeking funding.

Before the concert, an auction was held. The Foundation set a fund-raising goal of $300,000 for the concert.

Some Huey hits

>> The Power of Love

>> Jacob's Ladder

>> The Heart of Rock and Roll

>> Heart and Soul

>> Hip to be Square