Conservation Rocks

 By day, they help preserve land in northern Ohio.  By night, they jam.

Some of the region’s top musician/conservationists will be performing when Western Reserve Land Conservancy presents the second Conservation Rocks! show May 21 at the Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland.  Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets, which are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, can be purchased through the Beachland website at www.beachlandballroom.com or by calling the Land Conservancy at (440) 729-9621.  The show is for all ages.

Performing will be Pete McDonald (of Western Reserve Land Conservancy) & the Black Oaks, The Swamp Rattlers (Geauga Park District), Fat City (with Harvey Webster of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History) and Drake Hollow featuring Steve Madewell (Lake Metroparks) and Al Bonnis (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service). You can also check out displays from conservation groups in the lobby.

The event is designed to build awareness for the land conservation movement in northern Ohio.

The musical genres of the performers include folk rock (Pete McDonald & the Black Oaks), rock ’n’ roll (The Swamp Rattlers), ’50s and ’60s rock ’n’ roll (Fat City) and bluegrass and more (Drake Hollow).   In 2010, the inaugural Conservation Rocks! show featuring singer-songwriter Jason White drew a crowd of more than 220 people to the Beachland Ballroom.

Western Reserve Land Conservancy, a nonprofit organization formed by the merger of eight local land trusts in 2006, has preserved more than 370 properties and more than 23,000 acres in a 14-county region in northern Ohio.  The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern, which is Cleveland’s most eclectic music club, opened in 2000.  It was built in 1950 as the Croatian Liberty Home, with the ballroom and tavern comprising the original structure.