Tunes for Troops to Keeps Holiday Week Rocking and Rolling

You took the whole week off and now you're not ready for the holiday to end on Wednesday. Well, fear not, a local soldier arrives back from Afghanistan just in time to help rock the rest of the holiday.

Lance Biddle, an Army soldier, has gotten family and friends to organize Tunes for Troops while he flies back home from a tour in Afghanistan.

The concert will feature plenty of patriotism, food, drinks games, a couple of bounce houses for the kids and four bands. There will also be a silent auction which will include a guitar donated by Sam Ash, interior painting and tiling for one room, a Harley Davidson custom helmet, three tattoos, and gift certificates for a massage, hair cut, and restaurants.

The four bands are the Smokey Daniels Band, Will Scott, Night Train and Knight Fall Band. The event begins at noon on Friday and goes until midnight. The event will be held at a Pole Barn in Ellenton at 4800 17th Street East. Look for the red, white and blue banner across from the Crab Trap II.

General admission is $5 per person with children 10 and under admitted free of charge. VIP admission, which includes preferred parking and seating, drinks and food is $35 per person.

All of the proceeds from the event benefit Manatee Operation Troops Support. Biddle, who hosted his first fundraiser for MOTS before he joined the military, hopes to raise at least $2,000 during this event. He and his family and friends are also hoping to make it an annual event.

The group has gotten a lot of support towards raising the money, said Kyle Biddle, who is helping to organize the event. They have gotten the stage for the bands donated, the bounce houses have been donated and golf carts to help ferry people from the parking area to the concert site have been donated.

"The community really came together and helped us put this together," Kyle Biddle said. "Without a lot of these people this couldn't have come together."

Lance Biddle, who has been getting his own cards and boxes from the community through MOTS, arrives from his miliary tour on Thursday. He will be putting some final touches on the show and then will be ready to celebrate with all of his family, friends and the community on Friday.