David Podorefsky and DTodd- That Song Yo

Article by Matthew Dickason

The BeFree Club, which is dedicated to promoting a drug and substance-free environment for students at Hopkinton High School, hosted their annual Fall Jam on Saturday October 19th. The fall Jam is a small, open microphone concert where Hopkinton High School Students are given the opportunity to perform in front of their classmates in a relaxed setting; this year it was held outdoors at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts/Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA).

The Fall Jam went off without a hitch this year. All of the artists were able to perform in their scheduled time slots due to very few technical difficulties. They played on a small stage behind the CAA to a crowd of high school students sitting on blankets that covered nearly the entire field.

Many performers expressed support for the Jam and BeFree. “I’ve performed at all of the previous BeFree events since I was a Freshman and this is the best one yet,” said senior Jack Farina.

A total of 16 acoustic performers and 7 bands performed at the event, making it one of the most popular events that BeFree has held, since previous shows averaged a sum of 5 to 10 performers.

After the show, members of Dawn of the Starfish, a local high school band, talked about their thoughts on BeFree and what drives them to perform in front of people. “I do this for the excitement, I like to be a part of it. I like being [one of] the bands up there on the stage like the groups that I looked up to” stated Evan Palmer, bassist of Dawn of the Starfish.

Palmer’s counterpart on guitar and vocals, Jakob Rosenzweig, also expressed his thoughts on Fall Jam. “I love that we have the opportunity to play in front of a lot of people, and it’s really helpful that the BeFree club has all of the sound equipment set up for us. I think that it’s great that there is a club that is organizing these events for musicians in the high school,” says Rosenzweig.

Guidance Counselor Kiely Murray has been the advisor for the school’s SADD (students against destructive decisions) club for several years, and she became the advisor for the BeFree club this year. Directly before the Fall Jam began, Murray was asked a few questions about BeFree.

MD: Do you have any plans of combining your two active clubs, BeFree and SADD?
KM: “SADD and BeFree carry common ideas, but their focuses are different so I think they should be separate.”

MD: What plans do you have for further development of the club?
KM: “I want to do events that aren’t entirely related to music, I think we could also do athletic events such as badminton or other recreational sports. I also want to be more connected with the CAA of Hopkinton because they host a wide variety of open mics and other artistic events.”

David Podorefsky, a member of the club last year and a leader in the club this year, commented on how BeFree has changed this year. “There’s more structure and as a club we are a lot more organized and we receive emails from Ms. Murray to help us stay more connected”, says Podorefsky.

“I think that Ms. Murray is very nice, and I think that she is doing a great job and the events are only getting bigger and better,” agreed Farina.

According to the club officers, the club has seen a big increase in interest and popularity in the past year. BeFree hopes to continue to grow and looks forward to another Fall Jam next year. The club meets Thursdays after school in room A105.

Additional pictures can be found at: http://www.sceneinhopkinton.org/p882929239