Our dear friend and local musician Shawn Snyder has put forth quite an effort organizing the first annual Skinny Dip, a fund-raising night of entertainment featuring local musicians to benefit melanoma research. Make plans December 5, 2009, to attend this fun and worthwhile event. Here are some details:

Saturday, December 5th * 6PM ’til LATE
THE SKINNY DIP @ KITCHEN 305
A Concert To Benefit Melanoma Research and Awareness
In Honor of Linda K. Snyder
…dipping into our wallets to save some skin!

Hosted by Shawn Snyder
MC’d by Channel 10’s Will Manso

A Multi-Bill Concert Featuring:

The U-School Testostertones
Uncle Scotchy
Cat Shell
Big Poppa E and the E Band
Arboles Libres
Michael Shivers
Shauna Sweeney
Shawn Snyder
The Big Bounce
Lanzallamas Monofonica

Live Music ’til 11PM!

VIP Celebrity After Party Follows!

$10 Suggested Donation At The Door!

Raffle and Silent Auction Throughout The Night!

Proceeds to Benefit:

The Melanoma Research Foundation (www.melanoma.org)
AND
The Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation (www.melanomafoundation.com)

Officail Website: www.THESKINNYDIP.org

The Story:

One year ago, my mom, Linda Snyder, passed away from StageIV Melanoma at just shy of sixty years old. What started as a mole on her thigh ended up, three years later, metastasized in her brain. It’s surreal, to say the least, and still, at times, altogether inconceivable.

Beyond the essential fundraising facets of The Skinny Dip, the effort to increase awareness is of utmost priority.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Pink Movement, at large, have done an incredible and admirable job at branding and marketing Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. Melanoma, on the other hand, nobody
seems to want to talk about, despite having the fastest growing incidence rate of all cancers – it’s stuck with a Black Ribbon, a starkness that speaks on multiple levels. When caught in advanced stages, it can be one of the most unpredictable and hardest cancers to fight, and brings with its diagnosis some of the grimmest numbers and devastating outcomes. And yet, it happens to be one of the easier cancers to prevent and to detect and has one of the highest survival rates when discovered and treated early. Sun caution and skin care, frequent visits to the dermatologist and full-body checks, are usually all it takes to stay vigilant.

Living in South Florida, where sun-worship is religion and dermatology often caters to vanity more than prevention, we’re hoping to take some cues from Komen, adding some edge and some trend to an otherwise stiff, rather uncomfortable, and often taboo topic, to try to make even a small dent in the way of public consciousness and precaution.

Please Join Us!