Join us in recognizing ComFest’s 2024 honorees at this year’s Community Festival at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday June 29th at 2:30PM on the Bozo stage!
HONORED ARTIST
Michelle Ishida
Michelle Ishida could be ComFest’s poster child. This year’s Honored Artist also has shown and sold her artwork at the festival for decades, as well as volunteering for security and being on the Grants Committee.
Ishida first attended in 1991, when the fest was in a vacant lot adjacent to Goodale Park, where the condos are now. She shared a booth with friend and Crazy Mama’s DJ Tim Craig and sold handmade hats. She also performed that year with Wishyfish, a ComFest one-two that has become her “tradition.” In the ensuing years, she performed with Mary Adam 12, Lowtide Freakwave, Lucey’s Maze, Jason and Michelle, Elisa Nicolas, The Ginger Lees, Gathering Stars and The Repo Pilots—all while maintaining her arts and crafts booth. Over the years she has performed on every stage except Off Ramp.
Her musical life today is as active as it has ever been: “I’m playing regularly with Gathering Stars (main stage Sat 9pm) and The Repo Pilots (Gazebo Sat 6pm),” she said recently, “both bands … are releasing new full-length albums this year as well.”
Ishida’s favorites of all those performances? “1994 with Mary Adam 12 on the main stage because the entire crowd was dancing and singing along and we were all young and full of joyful energy,” she remembered. (Mary Adam 12 was one of the biggest draws in the Columbus alternative scene at the time, touring colleges and clubs regionally.) Of more recent ComFest gigs, Michelle cited “Gathering Stars on the Gazebo stage because I love my bandmates and I can’t even believe that 30 years later I still get to do this!”
Michelle has formal training in classical piano and composition from Otterbein, a BFA from OSU and a certificate in audio engineering from The Recording Workshop. Under the name Tree Lady Art Prints, she’s exhibited her art and clothing at juried arts festivals throughout Ohio, has received grants in music and art from GCAC, and had a segment on HGTV’s “That’s Clever.” Her contribution to Local Waste’s podcast was both fact and fun-filled.
Comparing ComFest to those other festivals, Ishida said: “It is the only free music and art festival of a larger scale that focuses on multiple things: art, music, food, and informational booths from non-profits. The other music festivals I’ve done all have high ticket prices and are focused more on the music with the art being a side attraction. The art festivals I do are more focused on art and the music is usually a side attraction.”
The experience of taking part in many other festivals combined with her participation in ComFest, especially on the Grants Committee, has only sharpened Ishida’s appreciation of our fest and just how special it is. “I like being older now and appreciating the great feat of just getting all these people together and throwing this huge free party with a purpose every year,” she said. “The fact that the ComFest committees pull this off year after year is a big deal, it’s a lot of work.”
She also remains hopeful about ComFest’s future. The eternal optimist, she believes that the true value of the festival can only persevere:
“I think as more people are made aware of the contributions ComFest makes to community organizations, the festival’s relevance is taken more seriously and is appreciated more. ComFest grants help a lot of arts organizations, community gardens, friends of houseless people, anti-human trafficking organizations, and many more very important non-profits working to help under-served communities.”
— Curtis Schieber
HONORED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
Moms Demand Action
Moms Demand Action is the grassroots arm of the Everytown, a national organization formed after the Sandy Hook school tragedy in 2012. Together they work to promote gun safety and reduce gun violence through sensible legislation and safe handling and storage of firearms. Moms Demand Action has chapters in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The Columbus chapter boasts nearly 800 members and a leadership team of 40.
They are all volunteers and lead by example. They are easily recognizable at events (e.g. ComFest) wearing matching red tee shirts as they engage in dialogue. “We are a data-driven organization,” says Shannon Mulligan, “We don’t expect guns to go away. We give people facts and information.” Shannon joined the Columbus chapter after the 2016 election, when school shootings were at all-time high and children were at daily risk. “The Uvalde school shooting was the catalyst for me,” says Rachel Brooker. Both women have young children, and both decided an a ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. Now both are leaders in Columbus Moms Demand Action.
Their efforts include lobbying legislators, sharing educational materials, and, importantly, developing partnerships with schools, churches, health groups, law enforcement, and other entities committed to making communities safer. “We are very much about building coalitions,” says Shannon Mulligan. In Columbus, Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, REACT (Rapid Response Emergency and Addiction Crisis Team), Healthy Homes, and many others have partnered with Moms Demand Action for greater outreach. They are available to speak to groups and meet citizens one on one. They will table and pass out literature at local events. Their neighborhood community walk is yet another way they reach people. They share information about properly storing and handling guns to maintain a safe home and the interaction strengthens neighborhoods.
Rachel points to the Be SMART program, “Be SMART is a success story. It addresses child gun deaths in the home by accident or suicide so that parents and adults are aware of the dangers. SMART is an acronym for Secure guns safely, Model responsible gun behavior, Ask if there are unsecured weapons in other homes, Recognize the role of guns in suicide, Tell your peers to be SMART. The Be SMART Team launches conversations and evaluations of personal space to increase safety. (https://besmartforkids.org)
In May Moms Demand Action led an Advocacy Day. Volunteers descended on the State house, armed with gun violence data to meet with and urge legislators to pass gun safety laws. Last year over 200 contacts were made, rural and urban voices alike from across the state. The group also provides a list of political candidates friendly to common sense gun laws. (https://gunsensevoter.org)
In 2022 Columbus City Council passed a Gun Violence Prevention Ordinance, promoted by Ohio’s Moms Demand Action, following weakening of gun safety laws by Governor DeWine. Columbus is the first city to pass such an ordinance and it is hoped other municipalities will follow. So far this year the homicide rate in Columbus is down 50%, thanks in part to the hard work of Moms Demand Action.
Moms Demand Action exemplifies ComFest Principles. Their work to lessen violence and protect children deserves accolades. They are a non-profit, funded by donations. More importantly, people can get involved by texting “Ready” to 64433. There is an app, a calendar with meetings and events, and Moms 101 sessions to ready volunteers for work. You don’t have to be a Mom or even a woman to get involved.
When asked what one message Moms would like to impart, Shannon said, “It all counts. The smallest things matter.” Congratulations Moms Demand Action on this the 2024 ComFest Honored Organization Award. (https://momsdemandaction.org)
— Connie Willet Everett
HONORED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
Common Cause Ohio
Common Cause Ohio shares a similar history and values to Comfest. Both were born out of the tumultuous early 1970s when young people were demanding greater accountability and transparency from their elected officials through collective action in their communities.
Common Cause Ohio is a nonpartisan grassroots organization that is dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. They believe that as more eligible Americans participate in elections, our democracy becomes stronger. They advocate at all levels of government to protect and improve voters rights and access to the ballot in Ohio and improve transparency and accountability in government.
The organization was formed in 1970 and led the campaign to adopt the 26 th amendment to the U.S Constitution, which gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. At the time, young people were being drafted to fight in Vietnam but were unable to vote until age 21. Common Cause has chapters in 30 states with a network of over 1.5 million members nationally.
The Ohio chapter was founded in 1976 and for decades has been at the grassroots organization at the center of the fight over Ohio’s gerrymandered Congressional and Statehouse districts, which deny proportionate representation to Ohio voters. They are also staunchly opposed to dark money in politics, made all the worse by the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, that gives the rich and powerful an outsized and anonymous role in elections.
Catherine Turcer has been the Executive Director of Common Cause’s Ohio chapter since 2012 and has spent her career advocating for strengthening democracy. She’s also a long time Comfester and her daughter comes home for the festivities every year. Catherine sees the organization’s work as promoting the values and protecting the systems that we all learned about in 8th grade social studies class. According to Turcer, “We advocate for the rules that invite people in and oppose the ones that keep people out.”
Because Ohio’s statehouse districts are so gerrymandered, it is extremely difficult to enact policies that enjoy widespread support across Ohio. For this reason, Common Cause Ohio is pushing for the “Citizens Not Politicians” (CNP) Amendment to the Ohio Constitution. The CNP amendment is a citizen initiative to end gerrymandering. It bans lobbyists and politicians from the redistricting process and instead establishes the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, which empowers citizens to draw fair districts using an open and transparent process. The amendment can be read at www.citizensnotpoliticians.org .
Common Cause Ohio’s network of dozens of partner organizations across the state are on track for collecting over 700,000 signatures, which is more than enough to put the amendment on the ballot this November. If the measure passes, it will be a major victory that has been decades in the making.
In addition to the Citizens not Politicians campaign, Common Cause Ohio is a member of the Ohio Voters Rights Coalition, which promotes various policies to protect and expand voting rights in Ohio such as automated voter registration, early voting opportunities, improved online voter registration, and fully enfranchising people in the criminal justice system.
Common Cause Ohio is also a member of the Ohio Fair Courts Alliance, which is a diverse network of organizations, community leaders and concerned citizens dedicated to creating a court system that exemplifies and protects equity, fairness and justice for all. Their goal is to raise public awareness of the importance of our courts and impartial judges through their Speakers Bureau and to pass stronger rules to limit the influence of money and special interests on the courts.
Common Cause Ohio understands why people get depressed and angry at the state of politics today and how those feelings can cause people to disengage. However, Common Cause Ohio holds onto the vision of a democracy that works for all of us and that, in the spirit of Comfest, we can work together to create the system that we deserve.
You can join their network and find opportunities to volunteer at www.commoncause.org/ohio. Every small action adds up to make a big difference.
— Graham Bowman
HONORED VOLUNTEER
Marty Stutz
This year’s honored volunteer, Marty Stutz, has been a volunteer for many years. He has done both heavy lifting for several committees while also sincerely offering to help out wherever assistance is needed before, during and after the festival. Marty has contributed his word crafting skills as a writer and editor for the Program Guide as well as handling duties as the main media spokesperson. Marty has also been a critical dis-organizer with the Doo-Dah Parade.
Marty has been attending ComFest every year since he wandered into his first one in 1989. “During my first summer in Columbus, I wandered over to this ‘event’ setting up on an empty lot. There was a great bohemian, progressive vibe that refuted everything one was told about Columbus, Ohio: Progressive politics, counterculture lifestyles, arts and crafts, local activist organizations…it was really unexpected. My mother lives in the Haight-Ashbury and it gave off that type of vibe…I was sold.”
He immediately took to the anti-corporate and all volunteer attitude of the organization. According to Marty, back then “they always needed more volunteers so I just did whatever someone needed done. You didn’t even really sign up, you just did things. Eventually I did some beer shifts and it dawned on me that volunteering was just as, or even more fun than hanging out.”
A writer by trade, he eventually found his way to the Program Guide committee, which in the early 90s would meet at the Short North Tavern to put it together. He didn’t know anyone but felt immediately welcomed and the rest of the team helped him along. He’s been contributing to the program ever since.
In the early 2000s he began attending the General Planning Committee meetings. This is where he learned just how much hard work and dedication it takes throughout the year to make the festival a success. He jumped in and has always felt welcome and appreciated for his contributions.
Of his many roles he’s played over the years, his work on the Grants Committee has been the most meaningful to him. On the grants committee he got to learn about all the different grassroots organizations in Columbus that do the hard work of community organizing, assisting the most vulnerable, or fighting for the forgotten. “I can’t express the great feeling I get when we can provide funding to these groups and their projects.”
Marty grew up in Toledo and moved to the Short North in 1989 after attending college in Granville. He stayed in the Short North for 20 years before moving to South Clintonville with his partner Shanna Harrell.
In his youth he volunteered for various political campaigns and did a brief stint with the Ohio Attorney General’s office before landing a great job as a legislative aide at the Ohio Senate, which launched a 30-year career in public affairs. He joined the COTA management team in 2005 and helped re-build the agency. “I worked with some extremely dedicated and talented folks. Fell in love with public transit and with helping people who relied on it. It was very rewarding work.”
Marty is convinced that ComFest has played a significant role in making Columbus a better place. “I think we take Columbus’ relative progressivism for granted. However, I think the bringing together of so many community organizations, musical talent, alternative lifestyles and like-minded people, even for one weekend each year, has, over 50 years, nurtured a broader community of tolerance and openness.”
But ultimately, ComFest to Marty is about the people. “I’ve made many lifelong friends because of ComFest and I cherish them.” Marty encourages young people to follow his example and not to be afraid to volunteer and step into larger roles.
“The people who put this show on are some of the best people I’ve ever known. They care deeply about ComFest values, the event itself and their community. From the General Planning Committee right down to the person pouring beer next to you on your first volunteer shift: There are great people here.”
— Graham Bowman
HONORED VOLUNTEER
Kate Curry Da-Souza
ComFest 2024 is happy to award Kate Curry Da-Souza the Honored Volunteer Award for 2024.
Kate came to ComFest for the first time in 2002. She and her family had just moved to Columbus a few months before, and they lived in the neighborhood. They heard loud music, and when they got down to the park, they saw all the action and thought that this was probably their kind of people and something that they should find out more about.
In 2003, the next year, they came along with their toddler son, who was about a year old at the time. He wanted to pick up every single cigarette butt, and he was very meticulous, so they went to get some gloves, and that is how Kate became a ComFest volunteer.
Since that fateful day, in 2003, Kate has been an active volunteer for the Community Festival. Her most frequent and visible roles have been with Clean Up and Recycling and Grants. She began by volunteering for C&R shifts and by 2008 was organizing other volunteers and filling shifts. In 2019, Kate was asked to serve on the Grants Committee. She emerged as a committed leader on the Grants Committee during the pandemic. During her tenure on the Grants Committee, she sought to streamline the review and selection process while maintaining strong committee participation and successful grant-making during lockdowns.
When asked about what made Kate continue to volunteer at ComFest, she said, “We stayed for the community. We were young when we moved to Columbus. The ComFest crew mentored me and let me cut my teeth on community organizing. There are not many community organizations that would let a 20-year-old run a $40,000 project like Cleanup and Recycling. They trusted me. They were willing to listen to a 20-year-old and they were open to my ideas.”
Alexander Curry, Kate’s oldest son, said that he loved growing up at ComFest. His early memories of seeing Kate helping others, the late nights, long meetings and efforts to make sure all the work was done before an event went through were very powerful and inspiring for him. He remembers that at his Eagle Scout ceremony, Kate said, “It takes a village; we rely on carefully nurtured bonds with our neighbors and have a duty to ourselves and each other to look out and take care.” For Alexander, this is Kate’s approach to community building, especially in her work within ComFest. She takes time to teach, not just tell; to lead by example, and leave no one behind or in the dark.
Kate lives the phrase “ComFest 365”. Her resume tracks that, as the jobs that she has held through the years and the other organizations that she is part of have all focused on justice and community work. Paralleling her years as a ComFest volunteer she has worked as a community health worker, advocate for children and families and as acommunity organizer. She currently serves as Network Director, Success by Third Grade at the United Way of Central Ohio. Kate is also Chair of the Near East Area Commission.
ComFest organizer Candy Watkins adds that Kate’s level head and engaging personality has served all of her volunteer work and she is well respected by all those who she serves. Candy adds, “Kate is a strong woman who gives generously of her time and energy for the greater Columbus Community. She is also fun and happy to be around and shares her happiness freely. She has been a driving force in the ComFest and the Near East Area communities for many years.”
Kate is feeling very honored to be recognized. She feels very lucky that she wandered into the park in 2002. She is so glad that her son was picking up those nasty cigarette butts in 2003. There is no way that she could have anticipated being connected to this festival for two decades, and no way she could have anticipated the sense of community that she has received. “And,” Kate says, “There is a certain level of magic that happens when it’s raining at 4 AM and you are cleaning up what you swear is the last load of garbage to get the park ready for the next day, eating food that the food fairies made for you at 2 AM. There’s a beauty in that, in supporting one another to get the job done.”
— Joanie Calem
WWCD – Over Thirty Years For Our Ears
“I saw a need and we did it” That is the philosophy of Randy Malloy, ComFest volunteer and former president of CD 101.1, 102.5, and 92.9. These stations and the incredible team of DJ’s brought local music to the Columbus airwaves and through the talent of the entire staff introduced new music to the public. Beyond the music, the contributions of the station to local children’s charities through the annual Andy-man-a-thon/CD 102.5 for the kids is further proof of their goal of filling a need.
Randy first joined the station in 1991. He has always had a passion for alternative music and found his niche there. He eventually became the owner because he wanted to keep the station doing what they do best – supporting local musicians. According to Randy the “ethos of what we did as a radio station was the community.” Bringing new music that was not being played on any other station was their goal. Introducing local music and supporting affordable concerts to share that was their goal. He credits the entire staff with creating a “seamless machine – its own animal/monster” that was able to accomplish that goal. For over thirty years the station continued that service to the Columbus public.
Further proof of the station’s goal of putting the local music community first was being asked to create a playlist for the Columbus airport. Starting in December of 2021, CD 92.9 began curating the music for John Glenn International Airport. The Greater Columbus Arts Council suggested an all-Ohio playlist for the airport and reached out to the station. Tom Butler was in charge of putting together over 20 hours of a playlist consisting of only Ohio musicians. This task went along well with the sense of community that the station held dear. According to Randy, “We were part of the community. We were not dialed in – we lived and worked in the community. We were hyper local.”
Another aspect of the strong devotion to community shown by the CD’s is their commitment to children’s charities. Started in 1992 by the late Andy Davis, the Thon (as it is referred to) has raised over 1,000,000 dollars for local children’s charities. Held every December for 48 hours, listeners can request songs in exchange for a donation, or bid on donated items in auctions. CD 102.5 for the Kids is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that has been supported by the station for over 30 years. Unfortunately for the community, the future is uncertain for this program.
Randy and the station’s sense of community extends to the Community Festival as well. Randy has volunteered for years for The Community Festival, both as behind the house set up as well as being an emcee. He tells the story of how years ago the fences around the stages were held up by wooden stakes that would often break off at the ground. His thought was “someone is going to be impaled by these.” He had metal stakes at home that he brought in. For his continual efforts at helping the Community Festival, Randy Malloy was an honored volunteer in 2021.
That was 20+ years ago and he still puts up the fences for the festival. As he says “you see a need and you fill it. We needed content for a radio station so we found it locally. We died on that hill of local.” ComFest would like to honor all those that worked at all the CD’s (101.1, 102.5, and 92.9) for their unwavering community spirit. Hopefully that spirit and commitment to seeing a need and filling it will carry on with all, and be the legacy of the radio station formerly known as CD 101.1 that gave so much to the community.
— Kitty Horan